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UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS, 

Agricultural  Experiment  Station. 

CHAMPAIGN,  NOVEMBER,  1890. 


BULLETIN  NO.  12. 


FIELD  EXPERIMENTS  WITH  OATS,  1890. 

This  article  gives  a  record  of  experiments  conducted  during  three 
years,  in  regard  to  the  quantity  of  oats  to  sow  per  acre,  the  time  and 
depth  of  sowing,  and  the  manner  of  preparing  the  seed-bed;  of  experi- 
ments during  two  years  in  sowing  oats  and  spring  wheat  together,  and  a 
test  of  a  large  number  of  varieties  of  oats. 

It  is  the  aim  to  report  and  interpret  facts  obtained;  no  prophecy  is 
made  with  regard  to  the  future.  There  are  no  means  of  determining 
absolutely  that  these  results  will  -be  obtained  again.  Where,  however, 
substantially  the  same  results  have  been  obtained  during  two  or  three 
years,  the  probabilities  are  that  in  this  locality  similar  methods  will  in  the 
future  give  similar  results. 

The  largest  yield  of  grain  was  produced  from  sowing  two  and  one- 
half  bushels  of  seed  in  1888  and  1890,  and  from  three  and  one-half  in 
1889.  The  average  yield  was  slightly  larger  when  three  and  one-half 
bushels  of  seed  were  sown  per  acre.  Between  two  and  one-half  and  three 
and  one-half  bushels  of  seed  per  acre  there  was  but  little  difference,  in 
yield,  and  with  four  bushels  the  yield  was  not  much  less. 

In  1888  and  1889,  a  medium  loose,  and  in  1890,  a  fairly  compact 
seed-bed,  gave  the  best  results.  A  very  compact  and  a  very  loose  seed- 
bed have  uniformly  given  the  poorest  results.  The  unplowed  land  gave 
this  season  better  results  than  the  plowed. 

The  time  of  sowing  has  had  in  these  tests  a  more  marked  influence 
on  the  yield  than  any  other  condition.  The  earlier  sowings,  with  one 
exception  the  earliest,  have  uniformly  given  the  best  yields.  In  these 
tests  sowing  prior  to  April  ist  has  given  decidedly  the  best  results. 


354  BULLETIN  NO.  12.  {November, 

The  depth  of  sowing  giving  the  best  results  has  varied  from  one  to 
four  inches,  and  has  not  been  the  same  in  any  two  seasons. 

No  advantage  has  been  found  in  sowing  spring  wheat  with  oats,  either 
in  the  total  quantity  of  grain  produced  or  in  the  quality  of  the  wheat. 
The  percentage  of  wheat  harvested  was  less  than  that  sown. 

In  1890,  the  so-called  dun-colored  rust-proof  varieties,  Texas  rust- 
proof, Texas  red,  and  new  red  rust-proof,  yielded  the  best;  in  1889,  they 
were  among  the  poorest.  Texas  rust-proof  gave  the  largest  yield  this 
season  and  the  smallest  yield  last  season.  Giant  yellow  French,  which 
gave  the  largest  yield  in  1889,  yielded  indifferently  in  1890.  Early 
Dakota  white  is  the  only  variety  which  did  especially  well  both  seasons. 

There  was  an  average  of  66.2  per  cent,  of  kernel  in  the  berry  of  the 
seed,  and  71.3  per  cent,  in  the  crop  in  1890.  The  greatest  difference  of 
kernel  in  any  two  varieties  was  15  per  cent,  in  the  seed  sown,  and  16  per 
cent,  in  the  crop. 

Those  varieties  which  contained  the  higher  per  cent,  of  kernel  in  the 
seed  sown  contained  the  higher  average  per  cent,  of  kernel  in  the  crop, 
but  did  not  yield  quite  so  well  as  those  containing  a  less  per  cent,  of  ker- 
nel in  the  crop. 

The  earlier  ripening  varieties  yielded  the  most  grain  and  the  least 
straw  and  contained  the  least  per  cent,  of  kernel. 

On  the  whole,  the  open  panicled  or  branching  varieties  and  the 
closed  panicled  side  oats,  have  yielded  equally  well. 

In  1890,  the  dun-colored  varieties  stood  first  in  yield  of  grain,  the 
black,  second,  and  the  white,  third.  In  1889  the  white  varieties  stood 
first  and  the  dun-colored,  last.  The  dun-colored  varieties  have  contained 
the  largest  per  cent,  of  kernel. 

The  yield  was  not  materially  affected  by  the  length,  plumpness,  or  by 
the  weight  of  the  berry,  or  the  weight  per  bushel.  Those  varieties  with 
long,  slender,  light  berries  and  light  weight  per  bushel  contained  appre- 
ciably the  larger  per  cent,  of  kernel.  In  other  words,  those  varieties 
which  would  have  sold  best  on  the  market,  or,  what  is  less  important, 
would  have  taken  the  premium  at  the  fairs,  did  not  yield  better  than  the 
other  varieties  and  did  not  have  so  high  a  food  value. 

Experiment  No.  12.     Oats,  Quantity  of  Seed  per  Acre. 

Seven  contiguous  plats,  each  2x4  rods,  were  sown  broadcast  with 
welcome  oats  at  the  rate  of  from  i  to  4  bushels  per  acre,  April  5,  1888, 
March  27, 1889,  and  April  2,  1890.  The  first  two  seasons  the  oats  were 
sown  on  fall-plowed  land  and  covered  with  a  disk  harrow  and  twice  har- 
rowing. The  last  season  a  different  tract  of  land  was  used  and  the  land 
was  plowed  nine  days  before  seeding.  The  land  was  rolled  before  seed- 
ing, and  the  oats  were  covered  with  a  disk  harrow  and  a  common  tooth 
harrow. 

The  oats  were  blown  down  more  or  less  each  season,  which  some- 
what affected  the  amount  of  straw  harvested.  The  plats  sown  at  the  rate 


1890.] 


FIELD    EXPERIMENTS   WITH    OATS,  1890. 


355 


of  one  bushel  and  one  and  one-half  bushels  were  generally  a  very  little 
weedy.     No  essential  difference  was  noticed  in  the  time  of  ripening. 

The  table  gives  results  for  the  three  years. 
TABLE  SHOWING  YIELD  OF  OATS  FROM  DIFFERENT  AMOUNTS  OF  SEED,  1888,  '89,  '90. 


Seed  per 
acre,  bushels. 

Grain,  per  acre,  bu. 

Straw  per  acre,  Ib. 

Lb.  per  bu. 

1888. 

1889. 

1890. 

Av'ge. 

1888. 

1889. 

1890. 

Av'ge. 

1889. 

1890. 

i 
i-5 

2 
2-5 

3 
3-S 
4 

52.5 
594 
61.4 
638 
61.9 
62.5 
60.6 

36.3 

33  -i 
42.5 
43-8 
47-2 
52-1 
50  6 

25-3 

21.6 

»75 
29  i 

27.5 

247 
21.9 

38.0 
380 
40-5 
45-5 
45-5 
46.4 

44-4 

3,820 
4,400 
4,540 
4,860 
5,220 
4,400 
4,260 

4,600 
3,800 
4,000 
3.000 
4,400 
4.100 
3,200 

2,820 

1,740 
1,  800 

2,460 
1,960 

2,  COO 
2,O2O 

3,747 
3.313 
3.447 
3-440 
3,86o 
3,500 
3,160 

25-5 
25 
28 
28 
29 
295 
29.5 

26 
26.5 
24 
29 

20 
28 
29 

Experiment  No.  ij.     Oats,   Compact  or  Loose  Seed- Bed. 

Three  plats,  each  2x4  rods,  were  sown  broadcast  April  6,  1888,  at  the  rate  of  two 
and  one  half  bushels  per  acre. 

In  plat  i,  the  oats  were  sown  in  fall-plowed  land,  and  lightly  covered  with  a  disk 
harrow.  The  land  was  then  rolled  with  a  heavy  garden  roller  and  afterwards  harrowed. 

Plat  2  was  cultivated  with  a  disk  harrow  before  sowing;  the  oats  were  covered  by 
disking  once  and  once  harrowing. 

Plat  3  was  disked  three  times  before  sowing,  once  afterward,  and  then  harrowed. 

The  oats  came  up  evenly  and  ripened  at  the  same  time.  They  were  harvested  July 
igth  and  threshed  July  27th  to  28th. 

March  27,  1889,  four  plats,  each  2x4  rods,  were  sown  broadcast  with  welcome  oats 
at  the  rate  of  two  and  one-half  bushels  per  acre. 

In  plat  i,  the  oats  were  sown  on  fall- plowed  land,  and  were  covered  by  disking  once 
and  harrowing  twice. 

In  plat  2,  the  oats  were  sown  on  fall-plowed  land  and  were  covered  by  harrowing 
twice.  Plats  3  and  4  were  treated  as  were  plats  2  and  3  in  1888. 

The  oats  came  up  and  ripened  evenly.  They  were  down  rather  badly  on  plat  I,  less 
on  plat  2,  still  less  on  plat  3,  and  were  standing  fairly  on  plat  4,  this  condition  being 
due  probably,  to  differences  in  the  soil.  They  were  harvested  July  igth  and  threshed 
August  loth. 

April  i,  1890,  four  plats  each  2x4  rods,  were  sown  broadcast  with 
welcome  oats  at  the  rate  of  two  and  one-half  bushels  per  acre.  The  land, 
which  was  used  without  previous  preparation,  was  partly  in  the  same  exper- 
ment  last  year  and  partly  in  sorghum,  each  plat  being  equally  so  used. 

In  plat  i,  the  oats  were  sown  without  previous  preparation. 

In  plat  2,  the  land  was  disked  once  before  sowing. 

In  plat  3,  the  land  was  disked  three  times  before  sowing. 

In  plat  4,  the  land  was  plowed  four  inches  deep  just  before  seeding. 

The  oats  were  covered  with  the  disk  harrow,  the  driver  walking 
while  going  over  the  plowed  plat  to  prevent  the  oats  being  too  deeply 
covered.  The  whole  tract  was  afterwards  harrowed  with  a  common 
tooth  harrow.  On  several  square  feet  of  plat  i,  considerable  sweet 
clover  sprung  up,  which  was  removed  May  6th. 

July  loth,  the  oats  were  harvested,  when  they  were  equally  ripe  and 
all  were  standing  well.  The  oats  were  threshed  July  22d. 


356 


BULLETIN    NO.   12. 


[November, 


TABLE  SHOWING  YIELD  OF  OATS  FROM  DIFFERENTLY  PREPARED  SEED-BEDS,  1888, 

1889,  1890. 


Seed-bed. 

1888. 

1889. 

1890. 

Average. 

*d 
P 

O 
«-) 

£. 
5" 

c^> 
r  n 

1-1 

g 
S 

c/p 

3 
Jl 

p5* 

"I 

g 
1 

3 

B 

Grain,  per  acre, 
bu. 

Cfl 

i-t 
1 

F| 

P 
o 

1-1 
_p 

f 
cr 

"O 
n 
•t 

0* 

cr 
2- 

s 

P 

O 
EJ. 

F* 

P 

~ 

H 

P 
j| 

CT^ 
.      fD 
•1 

P 

Lb.  per  bush 

O 

•-t 

s. 

fi 

1-1 

P 

CO 
•1 

J 

cr-o 
rt 

i 

P 

1 

3 

j— 

n 

1 

Very  compact 
Compact  .... 
Medium  . 

2 
I 

3 

4 

40 

44-4 
47.8 
44.1 

3,100 
3,200 
2,900 
2,300 

25-5 
27 
27.5 
30 

I 

2 

3 
4 

30.6 

36.3 
32.8 

30-3 

2,220 
2,O4O 
2,020 
1,940 

32 
32 
3« 

33 

I 

2 

3 

60 
663 

60.6 

4,  1  80 
5,38o 
4,460 

46.9 
49 
45 

3,  HO 

3,433 
2,900 

Very  loose  .  .  . 

Experiment  No,  14.     Oats,  Time  of  Sowing. 

Four  adjacent  plats,  each  2x4  rods,  were  sown  broadcast,  at  intervals 
of  one  week,  from  April  6  to  April  27,  1888.  In  1889,  seven  plats  were 
sown  at  intervals  of  one  week,  from  March  i4th  to  April  25th.  In  1890, 
twelve  plats  were  sown,  two  each  week,  from  March  22d  to  April  28th, 
the  duplicate  plats  being  six  plats  apart.  Each  season  welcome  oats 
were  sown  on  fall-plowed  land  at  the  rate  of  two  and  one-half  bushels 
per  acre  and  were  covered  by  use  of  a  disk  harrow  and  the  common 
tooth  harrow. 

May  5,  1890,  the  first  and  second  weeks'  sowings  were  nearly  equal 
in  growth;  the  third  weeks'  sowing  smaller;  the  fourth  weeks'  sowing  dis- 
tinctly smaller;  the  fifth  weeks'  still  smaller;  while  the  sixth  weeks'  sow- 
ing was  just  coming  up. 

June  27th  the  first  three  weeks'  sowings  were  fully  panicled.  July  2d 
the  fourth  and  fifth  weeks'  sowings  were  fully  panicled.  July  7th  the 
sixth  sowing  was  fully  panicled. 

The  following  table  gives  the  results  of  the  duplicate  plats  for  1890: 
TABLE  SHOWING  YIELD  OF  OATS  FROM  SOWINGS  OF  DIFFERENT  DATES,  1890. 


O 

•-( 

C/3 

J 

O 

V. 

I-t 

5s 

I 

Average 

P 

p 

c 

Date  of  sow- 

2 

o-d' 

3 
Q. 

M 

3 

5' 

5^ 

a, 

g? 

p  tr. 

o  cr 

"^  *"d 

ing,  1890. 

p 

•-1 

i-l 

1 

r 

P  q 

Frc 

1-1 

^ 

3  S. 

*     3 

*J 

™  § 

P 
o 

1-1 

g 

^ 

o- 

§ 

g 

1-1 

cr 

B*^ 

F  S' 

,? 

S" 

C 

j3 

i* 

p 

*      i-l 

2 

March  22...  . 

i 

466 

3220 

325 

7 

41.6 

3060 

31 

44.1 

3140 

31-8 

March  31  

2 

42.5 

2920 

31-5 

8 

47-8 

3860 

3°-5 

45.1 

339° 

3i 

April  7.  .  . 

•l 

2640 

27.  C 

Q 

^6.6 

^I4O 

26.? 

36  s 

2800 

27 

April  16  

j 

4 

29  4 

^ 
3060 

/  O 

27-5 

7 

IO 

ow  v 

30.6 

*J     " 

2980 

~v,  j 

27 

*J       J 

30.0 

7 
3020 

27-3 

April  21  

5 

28.1 

2580 

27-5 

II 

28.1 

2900 

26 

28.1 

2740 

26.8 

April  28  

6 

18.3 

2440 

26 

12 

20  9 

2640 

27-5 

19.6 

2540 

26.8 

July  1 2th,  the  first  three  weeks'  sowings  were  harvested;  July  i7th, 
the  fourth  weeks';  July  igth,  the  fifth  weeks';  and  July  2ist,  the  sixth 
weeks'.  July  24th  to  28th,  the  oats  were  threshed.  For  details  of  the 
first  two  seasons  see  bulletin  No.  7,  p.  195. 


1890.] 


FIELD    EXPERIMENTS   WITH    OATS,  1890. 


357 


The  substantial  agreement  of  the  duplicate  plats  is  quite  striking. 
The  first  two  weeks'  sowings  gave  decidedly  better  results  this  season 
than  any  of  the  later  sowings.  A  great  many  acres  of  oats  were  sown  at 
a  later  date  in  this  latitude  and  farther  south. 

The  percentage  of  kernel  was  determined  in  a  five-gram  sample 
taken  from  each  plat,  as  follows: 

TABLE  SHOWING  PER  CENT  OF  KERNEL  IN  OATS  GROWN  FROM  SOWINGS  AT  DIFFER- 
ENT DATES,  1890. 


"0 

R5 

•o 

Date  of 

2 

*•!? 

3  o 

2 

S"5 

-i  ° 

x-3  > 

3  2  3 

sowing, 

p" 

=  2 

n  3 

st 

3  2 

n  & 

M  <f  u 

n  3  3 

1890. 

2, 

2, 

•—  '  <~rCfQ 
'     o   n 
*+> 

March  22.  . 

i 

70.4 

7 

70.5 

70.5 

March  31.  . 

2 

68.Q 

8 

69.2 

69.1 

April  7  

3 

63.1 

9 

64.9 

64 

April  16.  .  . 

4 

65-4 

10 

65-4 

65-4 

April  21.  .  . 

5 

68.2 

ii 

62.9 

65.6 

April  28.  .  . 

6 

62.5 

12 

63-8 

63.2 

The  following  table  gives  the  yield  of  straw  and  grain  per  acre,  for 
three  years: 

TABLE  SHOWING  YIELD  OF  OATS   FROM   SOWINGS  AT   DIFFERENT    DATES,    1888, 

1889,  1890. 


1  888. 

1889. 

1890. 

~n  •** 
P  W 

0  » 

"i  rr 
-  F 

S"  5* 

1?  •*" 

p  CT5 

o  n 

3  g" 

"^  ** 
!°  3' 

Date 
of  sowing. 

P  O 

O  »1 

S"  5- 
B  n 

i  s' 

2, 

o   O 

i  s. 

3.5 

o 
°? 

P  O 
o  •-« 

2  i° 
n  *-• 

-    3 
F  rt 

p  £T 
3£ 

•-I 

c 
cr  3 

C    D- 
•     ui 

n 

2, 

sg 

CTQ 

S  c 

O    1-1 

"1    p 

P  g' 

B    fB 

§|" 

5^8 

s 

C   CL 
•     <n 

13 
A 
•t 

M'rch  14 
M'ich22 
M'rch  28 
April  4.  . 
April  ii 
April  1  8. 
April  25. 

48.1 
41-5 
4»-3 
36.3 

33-i 
25 
9-4 

3600 
4600 
5200 
4000 
4000 
4100 
3700 

28.5 
28 

28.5 

26.5 

22 
21 

M'rch  22 
M'rch  31 
April  7.  . 
April  16. 
April  21. 
April  28. 

44.1 

45-i 
36.5 
30. 
28.1 
19.6 

3140 

339° 
2890 
3020 
2740 
2540 

3» 

27 

273 
26.8 
26.8 

46-3 
40. 

34 
26.1 

42.8 

43-2 

364 

31.6 

26.5 

14-5 

April  6.  ... 
April  13... 
April  20.  .  . 
April  26.  .  . 

66-3 

48^8 
494 

5080 
5020 
5040 
5020 

Experiment  No.  ff.     Oafs,  Depth  of  Sowing. 

For  three  seasons,  April  25,  1888,  March  28,  1889,  and  April  16, 
1890,  sixty  selected  berries  of  welcome  oats  were  sown  in  each  of  twelve 
rows,  ten  feet  long.  The  first  two  rows  were  covered  one  inch  deep,  and 
each  succeeding  two  rows  one  inch  deeper,  rows  n  and  12  being  covered 
six  inches  deep.  In  1890  as  in  1889,  an  extra  row  was  sown  at  each  side 
so  that  the  twelve  rows  in  the  test  would  be  under  similar  conditions. 
For  details  of  the  experiment  in  1888  and  1889  see  bulletin  No.  /,/.  196. 

May  5,  1890,  Oats  sown  one  and  two  inches  deep  looked  the  strong- 
est and  healthiest.  Those  sown  deeper  were  slender  and  weak  and  were 
not  so  upright  and  stocky.  Many  of  the  plants  from  seed  sown  five  and 
six  inches  deep  were  bent  over  and  lay  upon  the  ground. 


358 


BULLETIN    NO.   12. 


[November, 


The  following  table  gives  the  items  ascertained  in  1890: 
TABLE  SHOWING  YIELD  OF  OATS  FROM  SOWINGS  AT  DIFFEP.ENT  DEPTHS,  1890. 


Row. 

No.  of  plants 
May  5. 

No.  of  stools 
harvested. 

No.  of 
heads. 

Heads  per 
stool. 

Oz.  of  grain 
and  straw. 

Oz.of  grain. 

i 

59 

57 

196 

3-4 

16.5 

4-5 

2 

58 

53 

1  66 

3-i 

15-5 

4 

3 

60 

57 

160 

2.8 

12 

2-5 

4 

58 

55 

152 

2.8 

14 

4 

5 

53 

5i 

170 

33 

10 

2-5 

6 

53 

44 

»37 

3-i 

"•5 

3 

7 

5° 

39 

128 

3-3 

9-5 

2-5 

8 

52 

49 

HI 

29 

"•5 

3 

9 

39 

40 

108 

2.7 

8 

i-5 

10 

32 

27 

73 

2.7 

55 

i 

ii 

17 

15 

35 

23 

3-5 

o-5 

12 

»5 

13 

40 

3-i 

'    2.5 

0-5 

Below  is  given  the  yield  of  grain  in  ounces  from  two  rows  ten  feet 
long,  and  the  relative  yield  for  1888,  1889,  and  1890.  In  1889  the  rows 
sown  five  and  six  inches  deep  were  disturbed  by  some  underground  ani- 
mal and  are  not  reported. 

TABLE  SHOWING  ACTUAL  AND  RELATIVE  YIELD  OF  OATS  FROM   SOWINGS  AT  DIF- 
FERENT DEPTHS,  1888,  1889,  1890. 


Depth  of 
sowing,  in. 

1888. 

1889. 

1890. 

Yield  of 
grain,  oz. 

Relative 
yield. 

Yield  of 
grain,  oz. 

Relative 
yield. 

Yield  of 
grain,  oz. 

Relative 
yield. 

i 
2 

3 
4 

i 

10 
9-5 

5-5 

90 
80 

IOO 

95 
80 

55 

"•75 

10 

ii 

H-5 

81 
69 
76 

IOO 

8-5 
6-5 
5-5 
5-5 
2-5 
i 

IOO 

76 
65 
65 
29 

12 

Experiment  No.  83.       Oats,  Effect  of  Sowing  Spring  Wheat  with  them. 

It  is  the  practice  of  some  farmers  in  a  limited  way  to  sow  oats  and 
spring  wheat  together.  Good  results  have  been  reported.  It  has  been 
claimed  that  spring  wheat  of  good  quality  has  been  raised  in  this  way, 
while  when  sown  alone  it  was  more  or  less  a  failure.  The  total  yield  of 
grain  has  been  said  to  be  greater,  and  it  has  been  urged  as  an  explanation 
of  this  result  that  the  wheat  and  oat  roots  were  differently  distributed 
and  hence  able  jointly  to  use  more  completely  the  food  supply  of  a  given 
area. 

A  test  of  this  question  was  attempted  in  1889  and  again  in  1890. 

Both  seasons  nine  plats,  2x4  rods,  were  sown  with  welcome  oats  and 
Saskatchewan  Fife  spring  wheat  as  given  in  the  tables  below.  In  1889, 
the  grain  was  sown  on  fall-plowed  land,  in  1890  on  spring-plowed  land. 
The  seed  was  sown  March  27,  1889,  and  April  2,  1890,  and  was  covered 
with  a  disk  harrow  and  a  common  tooth  harrow. 


i8go.] 


FIELD    EXPERIMENTS    WITH    OATS,  1890. 


359 


In  1889,  the  wheat  was  almost  a  failure,  and  of  very  poor  quality. 
The  results  are  given  below. 

TABLE  SHOWING  YIELD  OF  OATS  AND  SPRING  WHEAT  SOWN  TOGETHER,  1889. 


1£ 

Bu.  pe 

r  acre. 

Seed  per  acre,  bu. 

J^ffQ 

0 

g 

f* 

ft 

P*5' 

tfl 

£• 

I 

Oats,  2.5  

71  "? 

44 

2 

Oats,  1.25;  wheat,  I  

49 

28.2 

1.2 

7 

Oats,  2.5;  wheat,  0.5  

70 

41.7 

O.Q 

4 

Oats,  2.5;  wheat,  0-25.  .  .  . 

61 

27.2 

5-6 

5 

Oats,  2;  wheat,  0.5  

cq  c 

^2  Q 

2 

6 

Oats,  2;  wheat,  0.25  

C.O.  <; 

2Q  4 

1.6 

7 

Oats,  2.25;  wheat,  0.25.  .  . 

51 

30.2 

0.9 

s 

Wheat  2 

20  5 

o  ^ 

9 

Oats,  2.5  

58 

36.1 

In  1890,  the  yield  of  wheat  was  rather  better  and  of  fairish  quality. 
The  conditions  are  seldom  favorable  in  this  locality  for  the  best  develop- 
ment of  spring  wheat. 

TABLE  SHOWING  YIELD  OF  OATS  AND  SPRING  WHEAT  SOWN  TOGETHER,  1890. 


-<  n' 

Bu.  pe 

r  acre. 

>TI 

T3   Q^ 

Seed  per  acre,  bu. 

Fw 

C 
p 

sr 

ft 

?!• 

r 

S- 

i 

Oats,  2.  s.  . 

•2Q   C 

24. 

2 

Oats,  1.25;  wheat,  i  

5° 

20.3 

5-2 

3 

Oats,  2.5;  wheat,  0.5  

35 

16.2 

2.8 

4' 

Oats,  2.5;  wheat,  0.25.  ... 

39 

20.  2 

I.Q 

5 

Oats,  2;  wheat,  0.5  ...... 

46 

2"?.  I 

6 

Oats,  2;  wheat,  0.25  

45 

22.8 

2.8 

7 

Oats,  2.25;  wheat,  0.25... 

38.5 

20.8 

1.2 

X 

Wheat,  2  

4^ 

Id  ^ 

9 

Oats,  2.5  

43 

26.3 

The  preceding  table  gives  the  yield  for  1890. 

From  the  above  tables,  it  will  be  seen  that  in  1889  the  six  plats  sown 
with  varying  mixtures  of  oats  and  wheat  yielded  an  average  of  57  pounds, 
while  the  two  plats  sown  with  oats  alone  averaged  65  pounds  of  grain. 
In  1890,  the  six  plats  sown  with  a  mixture  of  oats  and  wheat  gave  an 
average  of  42  pounds  while  the  two  plats  sown  with  oats  alone  yielded  41 
pounds. 

In  1889,  the  plat  sown  to  wheat  alone  yielded  20.5  pounds,  while  in 
1890  it  yielded  43  pounds. 

It  is  evident  that  in  these  tests  no  appreciable  increase  in  yield  was 
obtained  by  sowing  wheat  and  oats  together.  From  the  table  given 
below,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  quality  of  the  wheat,  as  measured  by  the 
size  of  the  kernel,  was  not  increased,  and  that,  in  general,  the  percentage 


36° 


BULLETIN    NO.   12. 


[November, 


of  oats  harvested  was  greater  than  that  sown.  This  would  seem  to  indi- 
cate the  better  adaptability  of  the  oat  than  of  spring  wheat  to  the  condi- 
tions under  which  they  were  tested  in  this  experiment. 

The  following  table  gives  the  weight  of  1,000  berries  in  grams  and 
the  per  cent,  by  weight  of  berries  in  the  seed  and  crop  of  the  two  grains 
in  1890.  The  wheat  was  so  poor  in  1889  as  to  make  the  results  in  this 
direction  of  little  value. 

TABLE  SHOWING  WEIGHTS  AND  PERCENTAGES  OF  OATS  AND  SPRING  WHEAT  GROWN 

TOGETHER,    1890. 


<£ 
£• 

Wt.  of  i  cxx) 
berries  in  grm 

Per  cent,  by  weight  of  ber- 
ries in  seed  and  crop. 

? 

u> 

Wheat. 

Oats. 

Wheat. 

0) 
n 
a 

P* 

o 
>-i 

o 
7 

c/: 

n 
n 

P" 

n 

3 

•p 

i 

2 

3 

4 

6 
9 

19-3 

*i-s 

18.1 
20.7 
20.7 
23-5 

20.1 

IOO 

40 

73 
84 
78 
Si 

83 

i7 
65 

74 
83 
80 
81 
87 

18.4 
18.1 
18.0 
21.9 
21.3 
19.1 
21.4 

60 

27 
16 

32 
*9 
17 

IOO 

31 
24 
14 
18 

19 
10 

IOO 

21-3 

IOO 

98 

Experiment  No.  84.     Oats,  Test  of  Varieties. 

In  1889,  thirty  varieties  of  oats  were  tested  by  this  Station  and  the 
results  reported  in  bulletin  No.  7,  p.  197.  These  varieties  have  been 
tested  again  in  1890  together  with  seventeen  other  varieties. 

In  the  following  table  are  the  varieties  not  tested  in  1889. 
The  land  used  in  this    experiment  had  been    in  corn    three  years. 
March  25,  26,  1890,  the  tract  was  plowed  about  four  inches  deep  without 

TABLE  GIVING  NAMES  OF  VARIETIES  FIRST  TESTED  IN  1890,  AND  ADDRESS  OF 

SENDER  OF  SEED. 


No.  plat. 

Name  of  variety. 

Name  of  sender. 

Postoffice. 

I  and  48. 

Baltic  white  

Johnson  &  Stokes     

Philadelphia. 

2  and  54. 

Golden  giant  side  

W.  A.  Burpee  

Philadelphia. 

~\  and  ic.. 

Improved  American...  . 

Joseph  Harris   

Rochester,  N.  Y. 

4  and  56. 

White  Swede.  .  . 

S.  F.  Leonard  

Chicago. 

5  and  57. 

Early  Lackawanna  

W.  H.  Maule   

Philadelphia. 

6  and  58 

Prince  Edward's  Island. 

James  M.  Thornburn  

New  York. 

7  and  59. 

Canada  white  

James  M.  Thornburn.    

New  York. 

Black  Russian  

T.  Chester       .                ... 

Champaign 

o. 

White  bonanza  

T.  Chester  

Champaign. 

10. 

Texas  red  

University  farm  

Champaign. 

II. 

Black  Highlander  

University  farm  

Champaign. 

12  and  52 

2d  Premium  white  

S.  D.  LaRosh  

Pekin,  111. 

13  and  60. 

White  Victoria  

Kentucky  Experiment  Sta'n. 

Lexington,  Ky. 

A.1  and  11. 

Prolific  side  

Samuel  Wilson  

Mechanicsville,  Pa. 

A.Q 

White  schonen  

Wisconsin  Experiment  Sta'n. 

Madison,  Wis. 

CQ 

Swedish    .... 

Wisconsin  Experiment  Sta'n 

Madison,  Wis. 

Si- 

Improved  white  Russian 

Wisconsin  Experiment  Sta'n. 

Madison,  Wis. 

1890.] 


FIELD    EXPERIMENTS   WITH    OATS,  1890. 


361 


removing  corn  stalks.  April  ist  it  was  rolled.  April  2d  the  tract  was 
•divided  into  60  plats  each  2x4  rods.  A  space  of  from  2.5  to  5  feet  was 
left  between  plats.  Plats  i  to  48  and  52  to  60,  inclusive,  were  sown  with 
the  varieties  as  specified  in  table  p.  360.  The  oats  were  sown  at  the  rate, 
by  weight,  of  two  and  one-half  bu.  per  acre.  They  were  covered  by 
going  over  the  ground  once  with  a  disk  harrow.  April  8th,  plats  49,  50, 
and  5 1  were  sown  with  varieties  which  had  not  arrived  when  the  other 
varieties  were  sown. 

DUPLICATE  PLATS. 

The  first  question  to  be  determined  in  tests  of  this  kind  is  the  degree 
of  accuracy  of  the  method  employed  and  the  probable  limit  of  error. 

Eleven  varieties  were  sown  on  two  plats  each.  The  duplicates  were, 
on  an  average,  about  20  rods  apart,  so  arranged  as  to  give  the  maximum 
variation  likely  to  occur  on  the  tract  used. 

TABLE  SHOWING  YIELD  OF  DUPLICATE  PLATS  OF  OATS,  1590. 


H 

T) 

13 

O 

* 

O 

c 

w   rt 

£. 

O"  CO 

3 
A. 

3-tB- 

3' 

o 
re 

c  " 

O    P 

J" 

era  *"* 

cr 

3 

Name  of  variety. 

ft 

n  1-1 

«?i 

n 
•-i 

IT 

re 
3. 

O 

*    P 

s.  s 

cr 

^°  8 

n 

._. 

.    0 

B    _ 

re 

n 

P 

B- 

o  2* 

i 

O 

n 

7  7 

re 

Baltic  white  

31  -9 

7,8.8  7.47. 

7.    IO 

7C  .  C 

7.C 

2.14 

2.7,6 

71.5173.2 

Golden  giant  side  

7.2    2 

7.4   7.  7    l8 

7.    II 

77 

2Q    ? 

2.51 

2.7.Q 

70.  i  78.2 

Improved  American   

22  i; 

27    C  7.    Co 

7     4C 

SB 

27 

2   82 

2  ?<; 

68  77?.  4 

White  Swede  

7,1  .0 

7.O.7,  2   60 

I  78 

7,7,    C 

7,7.  .  C 

2.  C,O 

2-39 

66.767.1 

Early  Lackawanna  

2Q   7 

7C    Q  7.    4.1 

2    C.4 

7.7,    c 

7,7, 

2.7,4 

2.  18 

68  i 

7O.O 

Prince  Edward's  Island  

7.C    7 

28   6  2    ^7. 

2  53 

2Q 

2Q 

2    7,7. 

2   O7 

72 

71    8 

Canada  white   

42   2 

7.O   6  '    r>9 

2  ee 

7.7. 

7.7. 

2    46 

2    17 

66  T 

68  7, 

2d  Premium  white         .        .    . 

AA     1 

7.7    2 

•7     7/1 

2  55 

7.4 

7.O    C. 

2  33 

2  24 

66  9 

6c  7 

White  Victoria  

7.Q      I 

7.4    7  ">-    if* 

2    TO 

•7.7. 

7,1    C 

2    21 

2.  02 

68  9 

60  c 

Prolific  side     . 

7.7   c 

7.7.    I 

7   nn 

7.    7$ 

7.2 

28  5 

2    IQ 

2  O2 

72.7, 

70  o 

Welcome  

38-8 

41.22.57 

1-94 

328.5 

32  5 

* 

2.06 

2.  II 

69.4 

71.7 

The  average  difference  in  yield  of  grain  between  two  plats  of  the 
same  variety  was  5.3  bushels;  the  least  difference,  1.6  bushels;  and  the 
greatest  difference,  n.6  bushels.  If  one  variety  in  this  test  yields  five 
bushels  more  than  another,  it  does  not  'necessarily  indicate  that  the 
former  was  superior,  even  for  this  season,  to  the  latter.  Differences  of 
twelve  bushels  per  acre  may  be  due  to  uncontrollable  differences  in  the 
condition  of  *the  test,  although  such  differences  are  very  much  less  likely 
to  occur.  It  is  worthy  of  note,  however,  that  the  variety  which  gave  the 
largest  yield  was  grown  adjacent  to  that  which  gave  the  poorest  yield, 
and  that  the  five  varieties  yielding  best  were  widely  distributed  over  the 
tract  used. 

There  was  in  several  cases  a  considerable  variation  in  the  number  of 
pounds  of  straw  for  each  pound  of  grain  on  the  different  plats  of  the 
same  variety. 


362  BULLETIN  NO.  12.  {November ; 

The  greatest  difference  in  the  weight  of  a  bushel  of  oats  from  two 
plats  of  the  same  variety  was  four  pounds;  the  average  difference  about 
one  and  one-half  pounds.  It  is  probable  that  the  number  of  pounds  of 
oats  in  a  bushel  is  less  trustworthy  than  any  other  item  given  in  the 
table.  The  chance  of  variation  in  the  mere  mechanical  operation  of 
obtaining  the  result  is  very  great. 

With  the  exception  of  improved  American  (plats  3  and  55)  the  per- 
centage of  kernel  in  the  berries  of  oats  of  the  same  variety  grown  on 
different  plats  is  substantially  alike.  The  average  difference  is  less  than 
one  and  one-half  per  cent,  and  the  greatest  difference,  2.3  per  cent.  The 
samples  of  improved  American  contained,  as  did  other  samples,  a  con- 
siderable number  of  hull-less  kernels  and  there  seems  to  have  been  many 
more  hull-less  kernels  in  oats  from  plal  55  than  from  plat  3. 

In  determining  the  per  cent,  of  kernel  in  the  berries  of  the  several 
varieties  ten  grams  of  each  sample  were  hulled  and  the  weight  of  kernel 
and  hulls  obtained  together  with  the  number  of  berries.  In  order  to  test 
the  accuracy 'of  this  method,  four  subdivisions  of  a  sample  of  Clydesdale 
oats  were  analyzed  as  follows: 

Number  of  berries 446  446  436  435 

Wt.  of  hulls  in  ten  grams 3>5°6        3>456        3,361         3*356 

Wt.  of  kernel  in  ten  grains 6,486        6,494        6,594        6,612 


Total  weight 9.992        9>95°        9'955        9,968 

Per  cent,  of  kernel 64.9          64.9  65.9  66.1 

According  to  these  results  the  method  is  accurate  within  about  one 
per  cent,  or  in  other  words  the  limit  of  error  is  about  one  per  cent. 

VITALITY  OF  SEED. 

In  1889,  twenty-eight  varieties  of  oats,  most  of  which  had  been 
received  from  seedsmen,  were  tested  in  the  Geneva  apparatus  for  18  days 
at  the  mean  temperature  of  66.5°  F.  Ninety-three  per  cent,  sprouted. 

A  portion  of  the  crop  of  1889  was  saved  for  the  seed  of  the  crop  of 
1890.  Thirty-two  samples,  thus  saved,  were  tested  in  the  Geneva  appar- 
atus first  at  a  mean  temperature  60.4.0  F.,  and  again  at  essentially  the 
same  mean  temperature  60. i°  F.  The  average  vitality  was  87  per  cent, 
six  per  cent,  less  than  that  shown  by  the  test  of  a  year  ago. 

Eleven  additional  varieties — two  samples  of  100  berries  each — were 
tested  at  a  mean  temperature  of  63.7°  F.  The  average  vitality  was  93 
per  cent.  « 

PURITY  OF  SEED. 

In  1889,  it  was  shown  that  the  foreign  mattter  contained  in  the  seed 
sent  to  this  Station  was  less  than  two-tenths  of  one  per' cent.,  and  that  the 
impurities  were  usually  of  the  most  harmless,  nature,  such  as  pits  of  straw, 
chaff,  etc. 

Similar  results  have  been  obtained  in  those  varieties  which  have  been 
sent  to  this  Station  the  present  season. 


1890.]  FIELD  EXPERIMENTS  WITH  OATS,  1890.  363 

SYNOPSIS  OF  VARIETIES. 

The  early,  medium,  and  late  maturing  are  grouped  on  p.  364  accord- 
ing to  their  more  striking  characteristics,  so  that  the  reader  may  more 
readily  understand  the  similarities  and  dissimilarities  of  the  several  varie- 
ties. This  obviates  the  necessity  of  a  description  of  each  variety.  It 
does  not  follow  that  all  the  names  in  one  final  group  are  but  different 
names  for  the  same  variety.  There  are  minor  differences  between  some 
of  the  oats  which  may  doubtless  constitute  variety  characteristics;  but 
for  ordinary  farm  purposes  these  differences  are  probably  unimportant. 

Those  varieties  which  were  harvested  from  July  loth  to  i2th,  are 
classed  as  early.  Plat  59  is  an  exception.  It  was  harvested  July  isth, 
which  was  doubtless  an  oversight,  as  the  same  variety  on  plat  7  was  har- 
vested July  nth.  The  medium  maturing  varieties  are  those  harvested 
July  i7th  and  i9th,and  thelate  maturing  those  harvested  July  2ist  and  23d. 

Where  the  oats  are  blown  down  badly  it  is  often  difficult  to  judge 
correctly  as  to  the  comparative  ripeness  of  several  varieties. 

There  are  some  changes  from  the  classification  made  in  1889.  Early 
Dakota,  centennial,  and  Hargetfs  white  are  changed  from  medium  matur- 
ing to  early  maturing.  Egyptian  has  been  changed  provisionally  from 
the  open  to  the  closed  panicle  group.  Probably  other  changes  will  be 
made  from  year  to  year  as  the  experiment  progresses. 

YIELD. 

As  was  commonly  the  case  with  oats  in  this  state  in  1890,  in  the 
experiment  under  consideration  the  yield  of  grain  was  low,  being  for  the 
sixty  plats  an  average  of  35.2  bushels  per  acre.  The  yield  of  straw  was 
3,063  pounds  per  acre.  In  1889,  the  average  yield  per  acre  of  grain  from 
thirty-three  plats  was  41.2  bushels;  of  straw,  2,394  pounds.  This  year 
there  were  2.8  pounds  of  straw  for  each  pound  of  grain  produced,  while 
last  year  there  were  but  1.84  pounds  of  straw  for  each  pound  of  grain. 
It  is  evident  from  this  that  the  oats  gave  promise  in  the  early  part  of  this 
season  of  an  abundant  yield,  but  from  some  cause  or  causes  the  fulfill- 
ment of  that  promise  was  prevented.  The  problem  is  too  intricate — the 
effect  of  climatic  conditions  and  the  damage  from  insect  depredations 
and  from  the  prevalence  of  plant  diseases  have  been  too  little  studied,  to 
make  it  possible  to  speak  dogmatically  with  regard  to  the  failure  in  this 
particular  case.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  the  rainfall  (11.47  mO  f°r  tne  three 
principal  months,  April,  May,  and  June,  was  but  little  below  the  normal 
for  the  whole  season,  but  was  in  excess  in  April,  somewhat  deficient  in 
May,  and  considerably  more  deficient  in  June,  while  the  temperature  for 
May  and  June  was  above  normal;  and  that  the  oats  were  somewhat, 
although  not  in  this  case  excessively,  infested  with  the  grain  plant  louse, 
Aphis  avenae. 

The  table  on  page  365  gives  for  the  several  plats,  in  order,  the  yield  of 
grain  per  acre,  beginning  with  the  highest,  while  the  table  on  pages  365-6 
gives  more  details  both  with  regard  to  the  yield  and  quality  of  the  grain. 


BULLETIN    NO.   12. 


\_Novcmbcr, 


SYNOPSIS  OF  VARIETIES. 


Yield,  bu. 


Texas  rust  proof 55  o   ) 

f  Dun..  . .   \  Berry  long  -^  Texas  red , 49  7   [-50.2 

New  red  rust  proof 45  o  ) 

f  Tt«        !„  n  J  Early  Dakota 48  8  j    8  _ 

Open  panicle. .  -j  >Dg  1  Pringle's  progress 48  I    f  4»-S 

f  White  Swede. : 31   i  ] 

Early  Lackawanna 32  8 

White..  -|  Canada  white 364 

White  bonanza 37  7 

Second  premium 42  o 

White  Victoria 36  9 

Welcome 372 

Berry  short  \  Clydesdale 32  8   ^35.7 

H  Hopetown 35  9 

White  wonder 35  6 

Prize  cluster 37  2 

Badger  queen 37  8 

White  Belgian 33  8 

Hargett's  white 34  4 

Centennial 33  4  ] 

i.  Closed  panicle.  \  Black  . .   \  Berry  long  •{  Black  Russian 35  o 

f  Black  Russian   40  6  ] 

BUck  ..  i  Berry  ,ong  \  EgSE?.]?."*  J 
[Prince  Edward's  Island.. 32  o 

f  Closed  panicle.  - 

J  Berry  long  -{  Prolific  side 35  3 
, 
f  Japan.... 40  3 

IT,          ,          |  Baltic  white..  ..'. 35  4 

[  Berry  short      probstier 354 

[Egyptian 35  9  J 

«  |  Swedish 30  9  j 

f  Berry  short  \  Wide  awake 28  6  >28.i 

(  Improved  American  ...  .24  8  ) 
f  White  ..  \ 

(  White  schonen 31  9  jf 

Ooen  oanicle  L  Berry  long  \  American  banner  30  6  [•  30. 1 

|  American  triumph 27  8  ) 

Black  . .   -{  Berry  long  -j  Black  Tartarian. 33  8 

I"  Ooen  nanicle       J  Black  '  •   1  Berry  lonS  1'  Canadian  black 34  4 

'le- '    j  Dun..  . .   -I  Berry  long  -j  Virginia  winter. 20  o 

S  I 

f  Black  . .   -j  Berry  long  -{  Black  Highlander 36  3 

1       I  I 

[_  Closed  panicle.  -{  f  Golden  giant  side 33  3  ] 

|  Giant  yellow  French.  . .  .34  4   j 

[White  ..   -{  Berry  long  -{  Common  mixed 31  9   ^30.3 

|  White  Russian 266   j 

[Improved  white  Russian. 25  6  J 

It  is  a  striking  fact,  as  will  be  seen  from  the  tables,  on  page  365,  that 
many  of  the  varieties  yielded  nearly  alike.  Thirty-three  varieties  yielded 
between  thirty  and  forty  bushels  per  acre;  that  is,  they  did  not  vary  over 
five  bushels  above  or  below  the  average  of  all  the  varieties. 

Only  five  varieties,  Texas  rust  proof,  Texas  red,  Early  Dakota,  Prin- 
gle's progress,  and  new  red  rust  proof  stands  conspicuously  above  the  other 
varieties,  Texas  rust  proof,  stands  somewhat  ahead  of  any  other.  This 


i89o] 


FIELD    EXPERIMENTS    WITH    OATS,  1890. 


365 


TABLE  SHOWING  COMPARATIVE  YIELD  OF  VARIETIES  OF  OATS — 1890. 


NAME  OF  VARIETY. 

Bo. 
per 
Acre. 

COMPARATIVE   YIELD. 

55  9 
49  7 
48.8 
48.1 

45-0 
42.0 
40.6 
4°  3 
39  4 
38.4 
378 
37-8 
37-5 
37-2 
36.9 
3&-4 
36.3 
35-9 
35  9 
35-9 
35-6 
35-6 
35-4 
35-3 
35-o 
34-4 
34-4 

34  4 
338 

33-8 
33-8 
33-8 
33  4 
33  3 
32  8 
32.0 

3»-9 
3i-9 
3'-1 
30.9 
30.6 
28.6 
27.8 
26.6 
25.6 
25.0 
24.4 
20.  o 

Texas  red 

Early  Dakota 

Pringle's  progress 

New  red  rust  proof.  ... 

Taoan 

^Velcome         . 

White  bonanza.  .  . 

Canada  white 

Black  Highlander.. 

Hopetown  

Egyptian  

Black  prolific 

Probstier  

Prolific  side 

Black  Russian.    .  .  . 

Giant  yellow  French  .  .  . 
Hargett's  white  

Canadian  black  

Clydesdale 

White  Belgian. 

Welcome  

Black  Tartarian  

Centennial  

Golden  giant  side  
Early  Lackawanna  
Prince  Edward's  Island. 
Common,  Mixed  

^^hite  Schonen 

White  Swede  

Swedish  

American  banner  

Wide  awake  

American  triumph  
White  Russian  

Improved  W.  Russian  .  . 
Improved  American... 
Improved  American..  .  . 
Virginia  winter  

366 


BULLETIN    NO.   12. 


[  November ; 


H 

Z 

. 

u 

Bd 

E 

51 

3 

0 

H 

Jk 

.     .     .   G    C     .   B     . 

:  :  :i  i  :  i  : 

•  •     o  o  •  o  ; 

c  d    .  c    .  a    ....:... 

i  i  •  i  •  i  :::';•••:•: 

oo-o'o;-'-' 

Ed 

s 

c 
.2 

|-£M|sa|| 

3||3||g||gg||| 

M 

pq 

g 

^  .S  .S  ^  ^  .S  ^  -a 

^^'0rg"arg^'a-a'a-§'§'§'§ 

h 

0 
'H 

u 

CQ  c/j  ^/5  C^  CJ  c^  C^  c/} 

I  111  11  till  till 

K 
O 

IOM  r^t^.  M       H-  co 

O\OO  HI   ON  ON  rl-CXS  ~  >O  NO  OO  l^.  UT* 

H 
£ 

.g    .      In  crop. 

*?  T?  •r* 

«    ONOO  vC  OO   N  vO  1^1 

j»^g£g«^SR 

«  £  8 

u^  «   co        CO        t>*vO 

t^ONin       vO          iO               WiOt^u->« 

Z 

Z 
M 

nJS^     In  seed. 

S^ji^ss-j: 

^~  10  T^*  ro  ^O*O   ^^   ^*  CO  O   N-  N  t^»  ^O 

04 

Q< 

8  e            T 

^-  »-"   N    O   ^  rO^O  "O 
CO  ^OOO  i/^  CO  CO  ^"  O 

^^ct?ONVort^!-?Jo?^-?^ 

M 
O 

2  .S          In  crop. 

w  2 
It*  V   ej 

WMNNMNNN 

NNNNNNNNNNNWNN 

H 

H 

C    1-1 

*-O  ON  ON  IM    ON  **  00  "^ 
to  ONOO    ON  LO  O   N  L*" 

C  NO  t^  ro  ^  to  w  HI  ro  r-*.NO  HI  .^  M 
NtOOtONHitOx    TfOO  NO  OO   "1  N 

Q 

•;;  J-j  M     In  seed. 

N   H,   N   N   N   fON   N 

NNNNNNNNtNHivNNNN 

H 

H 

Ripe  and  cut 

ON  HI   ON  HI   O   ONHI  HI 

Q    i—   »H   Q    i-i   M   MM  tN»  O   ^   M   O   ON  ON 

o 
3 

July- 

S 
«  & 

Height,  feet. 

Tj-Tj-ro-'i-TftO'i-co 

•4ro^-Ti-Tj-'4-4'^-'4-44'4"^^ 

<«  12 

5  i 

«  j~ 

a    u 

Pounds  per 
bushel. 

S5?8RR^S 

UO  *O                      >-O                                         *-O 

co  N    O»  ^  COOO   ^  t"**  vooo   T^  to  O  N 
CO  co  C4  CO  co  C4  CO  CO  co  N  co  co  CO  f 

S  z 

,     « 

Lb   straw  for 

rooo  O   O  «  to  N  r-* 
T^  «  *OvO   ^4"  *-O  ON^O 

co^f^TfvO  t^rfO   W    N   N   N    ON  CO 

H    W 

K  M 
0   W 

each  Ib.  grain. 

CO  to  CON  to  N   -  H, 

NH,tOMNNNNNH,NNNN 

I8 

CO 

u 
H         Straw,  Ib. 

IH 

B 

oooooooo 

O  OO   N  vO   ^^O   O  00 
CO  CO  N    N    CO  C^    N    ** 

OOQOOOQOOOOOQO 
vO  *O   O  *O  *O   O  *O  *O  *O    ^  ^  ^  N  'O 

H 

ON  N   10  ON!^  CO  N 

if)  t>»  co  ****  ^^  00  00  *O    ON3O  OO  vO  O   CT 

VARIET 

^3        Grain,  bu. 

> 

jotoS  P>?;jo3-3 

t-»  ON*O   ^*  ONOO   co  *O  i^lOO  t^.  tOOO   O 

F  DIFFERENT 

OF  OATS  o 

V 

1 

•  :  l«  :  :  :  :x 

.KH               -T3       .     u 

«3              •       .      ,      •       .              .       .    0> 

Q 
u 

M 

•  of      g  M   :  ^ 

E  SHOWING  Yi 

'«    U          rt  T3      '  ^" 

u 

pq 

HI  N  to  f  f>NO  r^oo 

ON  O   1-1   p»   to  Tf  "1NO   r^OO    ON  O   HI    N 

g 

No.  of  plat. 

1890.] 


FIELD    EXPERIMENTS   WITH    OATS,  1890. 


367 


a    ;  e    .    •    • '  c. C..C..E  c. cc.ee 

•  £ *••£••£  £•££••:•: 

o    •  b '.   '   •  o   '  ;  p  p    •  o  p    •  o  o 

d  _X'  ' 

3  ^ ' 

COOO  vO   ON  CO  CO  Is*  CO  ^"  *O*O  *O        OO   ON  wi  ^^  t^  CO  N  00  vO   ON  N         N   ^"  CO      OO  CO  ""> 

SO   N   O     •  OO   O  ^^  O   ON  ^}*vO  M"  ON  "-1  u^  CO  **   ^t"^O     •   TfOO   Th  co  O  CO  ^J"  »-••-«  u">  t^  ^*  t^«  10 
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNwNNNNwNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN 

\f)    if)  10  to  *O  to  to  to    to  to    to      to  to    t/^  w>    to  to  w^  to  to  to 


OOOO 
NT)-NTl- 

coco— 


OOOOOOQOOOOO 
O  ^J-OO  N  OO  rj-l>5  N  •<}-  -^-  N  O 
vO  oo  LOCO^O  O^*t"  O  t^ONcO 


N   rJ-00  00  vo 


*O  00   ^  ON  •>*•  OsOO  >-"  CO  IOOO 


«  CO  "•>  CO  ONvO  vo 


N    N    COCOCOCOCOCOCOCOCOCO' 


368  BULLETIN  NO.  12.  \_November y 

variety  gave  the  poorest  yield  in  1889.  Giant  yellow  French,  which  last 
year  gave  the  best  yield,  this  year  yielded  indifferently.  Early  Dakota  is 
the  only  variety  which  yielded  especially  well  both  seasons.  It  gave  the 
second  best  yield  last  season,  51.3  bushels,  and  the  third  best  yield  this 
season,  48.8  bushels. 

QUALITY. 

The  quality  of  the  several  varieties,  as  indicated  by  the  ratio  of  kernel 
to  berry  has  been  studied  again  this  season,  and  is  shown  in  the  table  oa 
pages  366-7.  There  was  an  average  of  66.2  per  cent,  of  kernel  in  the  seed 
and  71.3  per  cent,  in  the  crop.  In  1889,  there  was  69.6  per  cent,  of 
kernel  in  the  seed  and  65.1  per  cent,  in  the  crop.  In  other  words  there 
was  a  decrease  of  4.5  per  cent,  in  1889,  and  an  increase  of  5.1  per  cent, 
in  1890,  in  the  crop  as  compared  with  the  seed.  This  season  there  were 
more  kernels  without  hulls  than  last  season,  which  was  one  reason  for  the 
•  increased  percentage  of  kernel.  Whether  this  was  due  to  the  conditions 
of  growth  or  to  the  differences  in  handling  cannot  be  told. 

In  1889,  Canadian  black  had  the  largest  per  cent,  of  kernel,  78  i  in 
the  seed.  In  1890,  the  same  variety  had  the  largest  per  cent,  of  kernel, 
80.8,  in  the  resulting  crop.  The  least  per  cent,  of  kernel  in  the  seed  sown 
was  59,  in  black  Tartarian  and  the  least  in  the  crop  was  64.8,  in  Clydes- 
dale; and  the  per  cent,  was  almost  as  low  in  black  Tartarian. 

There  was  a  difference  of  15  per  cent,  between  the  highest  and  low- 
est per  cent,  of  kernel  in  the  seed,  and  a  difference  of  16  per  cent, 
between  the  highest  and  lowest  per  cent,  of  kernel  in  the  crop.  It  was 
shown  in  bulletin  No.  7,  p.  207,  that  these  differences  were  a  matter  of 
some  importance  to  the  individual  oat  raiser  and  of  vast  importance 
when  applied  to  the  total  crop  of  the  United  States. 

On  thirty-four  plats  the  varieties  whose  seed  had  in  each  case  more 
than  65  per  cent,  of  kernel  and  an  average  of  68.6  per  cent,  contained  in 
the  crop  72.8  per  cent,  of  kernel.  From  twenty-four  plats  varieties  whose  seed 
had  in  each  case  less  than  65  per  cent,  of  kernel  and  an  average  of  62.8 
per  cent.,  contained  in  the  crop  69.7  per  cent,  of  kernel.  The  average 
yield  of  the  former  class  was  34  bushels,  while  that  of  the  latter  was  36.6 
bushels.  That  is,  in  1890  those  varieties  whose  seed  had  the  largest  per 
cent,  of  kernel  averaged  the  largest  per  cent,  in  the  crop.  Unlike  last 
year,  however,  those  varieties  having  the  less  per  cent,  of  kernel  in  the 
seed  gave  the  larger  crop  of  grain.  On  the  thirty-six  plats  the  varieties 
which  had  in  the  crop  more  than  70  per  cent,  of  kernel,  gave  the  same 
average  yield  as  the  varieties  from  twenty-two  plats  which  had  less  than 
70  per  cent,  of  kernel  in  the  crop. 

The  average  weight  of  the  berries  harvested  was  equal  to  that  of 
those  sown.  It  appears,  therefore,  that  the  deficiency  in  yield  was  due  to 
a  less  number  of  berries  rather  than  to  a  decrease  in  the  weight  of  the 
berry. 


1890.] 


FIELD    EXPERIMENTS    WITH    OATS,  1890. 


369 


Thus  it  is  seen  that  there  is  a  wide  variation  in  the  yield,  and  to  some, 
but  apparently  less  extent,  in  the  quality  of  individual  varieties.  The 
question  arises,  therefore,  whether  there  is  any  traceable  relation  be- 
tween the  more  striking  characteristics  of  the  oat,  as  time  of  ripening, 
color,  size,  and  shape  of  berry,  weight  per  bushel,  etc.,  and  the  yield  and 
quality.  The  table  below  shows  that  the  following  were  the  facts  in« 
this  experiment  in  1890: 

TABLE  SHOWING  FOR  DIFFERENT  VARIETIES  AS   CLASSIFIED,  YIELD,  WEIGHT  OF 
GRAIN,  PKR  CENT  OF  KERNEL,  1890.  f 


Varieties  Classified. 

X 

0 

c 

-o^ 
p" 

oa 

si 

•5'q 

0> 

o 

l-h 

r 

cr 

^ 
|p 

<  n 

•  s 

o 

P-S 

ii 

P   M 

s-F 

—  •« 

cr? 
•    » 

m  ^ 

-^ 

sa   -s 

rs 

Lb.  per  bushel. 

Grams  per  100 
berries  of  seed. 

g"9 

3  3 
ll 

O^J 
l-h  f( 

0    "« 

Ii 

Per  cent  of  ker- 
nel in  seed. 

Per  cent  of  ker- 
nel in  crop. 

Maturing  early   

70 

18.2 

278? 

2.72 

12.5 

2.l6 

2.70 

64.0 

68.8 

Maturing  medium  

?T 

32.  Q 

12  5o 

^.IO 

^O.  I 

Z.T.  5 

2."?2 

66.1 

6q.o 

Maturing  late  

o 

j^-y 
10.  6 

1546 

7.7O 

1O  6 

2.  01 

2.  70 

7O.O 

72.2 

Berries,  short,  plump    

i  1 

74.7 

2918 

2.66 

^2.2 

2.47 

2.77 

6=;.o 

77.1 

Berries,  long,  slender  ....    ... 

26 

|7 

35-9 

34-  5 

3253 
1006 

2.98 
2.78 

30.4 

119 

2-39 

2.  1O 

2.31 

2.14 

67.7 

65  q 

74.2 
70  6 

Berries,  black  

() 

7.C;.£; 

142O 

^.oo 

2Q-7 

2.1,2 

2.  -14 

67.5 

73.o 

Berries,  dun-colored  

4 

42.7 

2O7O 

2.  SI 

10.8 

2.  IQ 

2  54 

66.7 

75.6 

Panicles,  open  

1" 

1S-6 

->88i 

2.61 

31.4 

2.14 

2.11 

65.4 

70.1 

Panicles,  closed  

20 

14..  5 

1427 

1.14 

11-5 

2.2ft 

2.11 

67.7 

73.8 

Weight  per  bushel,  32  Ib.   or 
more   

»2 

•ze.O 

20  ?8 

2.61 

77.4. 

2.  I*. 

2.14 

65.2 

6q.8 

Weight  per  bushel,  less  than 
12  Ib. 

?8 

14.4 

1181 

1.OI 

20.  1 

2.2? 

2.  1O 

67.1 

72.  0 

Weight  of  seed  per  100  berries, 
2.25  grains  or  more   

»2 

3.5.7 

2801; 

2.62 

11.6 

2.  52 

2.12 

660 

60.  Q 

Weight  of  seed  per  100  berries, 
less  than  2.25  grains  

•>6 

14.4 

1284 

1.OS 

71.  I 

2.  05 

2.11 

66.4 

77.  0 

Kernel  in  seed,  65  per  cent  or 

?  i 

14.  0 

2QQ2 

2.85 

71.  0 

2.14 

2.l6 

68.6 

72.8 

Kernel  in  seed,  less  than  65 
per  cent  

-M 

16.6 

1178 

2.75 

71.  0 

2.27 

2.27 

62.6 

6o.7 

Kernel  in  crop,  70  per  cent  or 

»6 

7^.1 

12O2 

2.Q7 

^O.6 

2.27 

2.15 

67.5 

77.  Q 

Kernel  in  crop,  less  than  70  per 
cent  

->••> 

7"M 

28qi 

2.55 

72.6 

2.47 

2.20 

64.O 

67.2 

Date  of  Ripening.  The  extreme  difference  in  the  ripening  of  the 
several  varieties  was  but  thirteen  days.  The  early  ripening  varieties 
yielded  appreciably  more  grain  than  the  medium  maturing,  and  the 
medium  maturing  somewhat  more  than  the  late  maturing.  The  yield  of 
straw  was  in  the  reverse  order,  being  over  one-fourth  more  in  the  late 
than  in  the  early  maturing  varieties,  and  the  proportion  of  straw  to  grain 
was  over  one-half  more. 

The  percentage  of  kernel  both  in  the  seed  and  in  the  crop  was  the 
greatest  in  the  late  maturing  and  the  least  in  the  early  maturing  varieties. 
In  regard  to  quality  this  agrees  with  the  results  of  last  season.  Last  sea- 
son there  was  no  determinable  relationship  between  the  date  of  ripening 
and  the  yield.  This  season  the  yield  of  the  early  maturing  varieties  is 


370  BULLETIN  NO.  12.  [November, 

increased  by  the  fact  that  the  three  heavy  yielding  dun  Varieties  came 
into  this  group.  If  they  are  left  out,  however,  the  yield  of  the  early 
maturing  varieties  is  still  considerably  above  the  other  varieties. 

Panicles.     Those  varieties  with  open  or  branching  panicles  yielded 

slightly  more  grain  and  considerably  less  straw  than  those  with  closed 

•  panicles,  sometimes  called  side  oats.     Eight  of  the  twelve  varieties  in  the 

last  group  were  black.    The  varieties  with  closed  panicles  had  the  largest 

per  cent,  of  kernel  both  in  the  seed  and  the  crop. 

Color.  The  black  varieties  yielded  one  bushel  of  grain  and  about  400 
pounds  more  of  straw  per  acre  than  the  white  varieties.  The  dun-colored 
varieties  yielded  about  seven  bushels  of  grain  and  500  pounds  of  straw 
less  per  acre  than  the  black  varieties.  One  of  the  dun-colored  varieties 
yielded  20  bushels  only  of  grain,  and  is  otherwise  different  from  the 
remaining  three.  Omitting  this  one,  the  dun-colored  varieties  yielded 
about  fifteen  bushels  more  than  the  black  varieties  and  sixteen  more  than 
the  white  varieties. 

The  percentage  of  kernel  was  most  in  the  dun-colored  varieties  and 
least  in  the  white  varieties.  Last  season  the  white  varieties  yielded 
decidedly  the  best  and  the  dun-colored  varieties  the  poorest.  The  dun- 
colored  varieties  had,  last  season  and  this,  the  largest  per  cent,  of  kernel; 
but  the  black  instead  of  the  white  varieties,  had  the  least  per  cent,  of 
kernel. 

Plumpness  of  berry.  The  varieties  with  short  plump  berries  did  not 
yield  quite  so  much  grain  or  straw  as  those  varieties  with  long  slender 
berries.  The  per  cent,  of  kernel  was  in  favor  of  the  latter  both  in  the 
seed  and  the  crop. 

Weight  per  bushel.  The  varieties  which  weighed  32  or  more  pounds 
per  bushel  yielded  slightly  more  grain  and  less  straw  than  those  that 
weighed  less  than  32  pounds  per  bushel.  The  per  cent,  of  kernel  was 
distinctly  in  favor  of  varieties  which  weighed  less  than  32  pounds  per 
bushel.  The  varieties  with  the  heavier  berries  gave  substantially  the 
same  results. 

GEORGE  E.  MORROW,  A.  M.,  Agriculturist. 
THOMAS  F.  HUNT,  B.  S.,  Assistant  Agriculturist. 


MILK  AND  BUTTER  TESTS. 

At  the  request  of  the  Illinois  State  Board  of  Agriculture,  through 
Mr.  E.  E.  Chester,  superintendent  of  the  dairy  cattle  department,  Mr.  E. 
H.  Farrington,  of  this  Station,  made  chemical  analysis  of  the  milk  of  the 
cows  competing  for  certain  prizes  at  the  State  Fair  held  at  Peoria,  Sep- 
tember 29  to  October  3,  1890.  These  prizes  were  in  two  classes — for  cows 


1890.] 


MILK   AND    BUTTER   TESTS. 


371 


under  and  over  three  years  of  age — for  each  of  the  recognized  dairy 
breeds,  the  awards  to  be  made  to  cows  whose  milk,  produced  in  24  hours 
•during  the  progress  of  the  fair,  should  show  the  greatest  quantity  of  fat. 

For  these  prizes  18  cows  competed — 6  Ayrshires,  5  Holstein-Friesians, 
!5  Jerseys,  and  2  Shorthorns.  All  were  pure-bred  cattle;  most,  if  not  all, 
had  recently  been  shown  at  a  series  of  fairs  in  different  states. 

The  accompanying  table  presents,  in  part,  the  results  of  these  tests: 

MILK  YIELD  AND  COMPOSITION  OF  MILK  OF  Cows  OF  DIFFERENT  BREEDS,  ILLINOIS 

STATE  FAIR,  1890. 


Breed. 

Age, 
yrs. 

Milk,  Ib.  in  24 
hours. 

Fat, 
Ib. 

Fat, 
per 
cent. 

Total  sol- 
ids, per 
cent. 

Solids,  other 
than  fat,  per 
cent. 

8 

31.00 
29.00 
29.00 

1.19 
0.90 
0.91 

co  O  CO' 

00  ••"  M 

CO  CO  CO 

13.12 

II.OI 

11.94 

9.29 
7.91 
8.81 

b 

2 
2 

30.00 
21.50 
I7-50 

0.95 
0.70 
0.61 

3.10 
3-25 

3-48 

11.46 
11.65 
12.87 

8.30 
8.40 
939 

26.3 

.87 

•2.72 

12.  OO 

8.68 

3 
4 
4 

25.00 
27.00 
17.50 

1.47 
1.71 

1.18 

5-40 

6-33 
6.74 

15.46 

14-77 
15.80 

10.06 
8.44 
Q.66 

2 

2 

18.00 
19.50 

0.80 
099 

4-44 
506 

H85 
14.65 

10.41 
9-59 

Average  

21.40 

I   IQ 

C.Cn 

I^.IO 

Q  51 

Holstein—  Friesian  

7 
10 

12 

68.25 

61.75 
64.75 

2-51 

i-34 
2.18 

3-67 
2.17 
3.36 

11.78 
10.81 
1  1.  80 

8.II 
8.64 
8.5"? 

6 

2 

37-50 
5I-50 

1.23 
1.67 

3-28 
3-24 

II.  II 
11.92 

7-83 
8.68 

Average  

56.75 

1.78 

3.14 

1  1.  50 

8.7.6 

Shorthorn  

9 

24.50 

0.95 

3-87 

12.31 

8.44 

6 

21.50 

0.83 

3.86 

12.63 

8-77 

Average  

27  00 

0.80 

•?.86 

12  47 

8.61 

* 

General  average  

3304 

1.23 

3-96 

12.77 

8.81 

In  studying  this  table  it  is  well  to  bear  in  mind  that  the  rule  that  a 
single  trial  cannot  conclusively  settle  all  questions  at  issue,  is  especially 
applicable  to  a  test  of  this  kind.  The  comparative  standing  of  different 
cows  of  different  breeds  depends,  in  large  degree,  on  conditions  not 
shown  in  the  table.  Under  the  regulations  of  the  State  Board  of  Agri- 
culture the  award  was  made  on  the  quantity  of  fat  produced  without  ref- 
erence to  quantity  or  quality  of  food,  time  since  calving,  pregnancy,  size 
of  cow,  etc.  In  a  test  of  this  kind  it  is  difficult  to  secure  equally  credit- 
able representatives  of  the  different  breeds. 

In  this  test  quantity  of  milk  proved  to  be  as  important  as  large  per- 
centage of  fat.  All  the  prizes  were  awarded  to  the  cows  giving  the  lar- 
gest quantities  of  milk  in  their  classes.  The  milk  of  the  first  and  second 


372  BULLETIN  NO.  12.  \November, 

prize  Jersey  cows  had  not  so  large  a  percentage  of  fat  as  that  of  one  other 
Jersey  cow.  The  first  prize  young  Aryshire  cow  had  a  slightly  lower  per- 
centage of  fat  in  her  milk  than  did  the  second  prize  cow  in  same  class. 
In  the  case  of  the  older  Aryshire,  Holstein,  and  Shorthorns,  the  cows 
giving  the  largest  yield  of  milk  had  also  the  largest  percentage  of  fat. 

Three  of  the  Holstein  cows  gave  yields  of  milk  unusually  large  for  a 
show-yard  test — averaging  almost  65  pounds  each,  which  was  more  than 
twice  as  much  as  was  given  by  any  cow  of  any  of  the  other  breed. 
The  average  milk  yield  of  the  five  Holsteins  was  more  than  twice  the 
average  in  any  of  the  other  breeds.  This  larger  yield  more  than  coun- 
terbalanced the  lower  percentage  of  fat,  so  that  the  average  quantity  of 
fat  produced  by  the  five  Holsteins  was  greater  than  that  produced  by  any 
cow  of  any  of  the  other  breeds  and  twice  the  average  of  either  the  Ayr- 
shires  or  Shorthorns.  The  average  percentage  of  fat,  of  solids  other  than 
fat,  and  of  total  solids  was  lower  than  in  either  of  the  other  breeds.  One 
cow  had  a  noticeably  low  percentage  of  fat. 

The  Ayrshires  were  remarkably  uniform  in  quantity  and  quality  of 
milk,  the  four  cows  over  three  years  old  having  but  two  pounds  variation 
in  milk  yield,  and  comparatively  little  in  percentage  of  fat.  The  average 
percentage  of  both  fat  and  total  solids  was  low. 

The  Jerseys  gave  the  smallest  average  yield  of  milk,  but  showed  a 
high  average  percentage  of  fat,  of  total  solids,  and  of  solids  other  than  fat. 
There  was  greater -variation  in  the  percentage  of  fat  in  the  milk  of  the 
Jerseys  than  in  that  of  either  of  the  other  breeds. 

The  two  Shorthorn  cows  gave  milk  of  almost  identical  composition, 
having  a  moderate  percentage  of  fat  and  total  solids.  Their  yield  of 
milk  was  less  than  that  of  the  Ayrshires  and  but  very  little  larger  than 
that  of  the  Jerseys. 

The  general  average  results,  taking  the  18  cows  as  one  herd  of  mixed 
character  as  to  breed  and  age,  are  interesting  and  make  a  creditable 
showing.  An  average  milk  yield  of  nearly  32  pounds  per  day,  and  almost 
one  and  one-fourth  pounds  of  fat  per  cow,  is  above  the  average  results 
obtained  in  practice.  The  differences  to  be  found  in  such  a  herd  are  also 
well  illustrated.  Four  of  the  cows  gave  an  average  of  a  little  over  two 
pounds  of  fat;  four  others  a  little  less  than  three-fourths  of  a  pound  each. 
One-half  the  herd  gave  an  average  of  about  1.6  pounds  of  fat;  the  other 
half  about  .85  of  a  pound  each. 

The  differences  in  the  composition  of  the  milk  of  different  cows,  or 
the  average  composition  of  that  of  cows  of  different  breeds  is  much  more 
important  than  appears,  if  we  think  of  these  differences  in  comparison 
with  the  milk  as  a  whole.  If  we  take  the  average  percentage  of  fat  in  the 
milk  of  the  cows  of  different  breeds,  it  will  be  seen  that,  in  equal  quanti- 
ties the  Jersey  milk  would  have  78  per  cent,  more  fat  than  the  Holstein, 
68  more  than  the  Ayrshire,  and  44  more  than  the  Shorthorn.  The 
differences  in  the  milk  of  single  cows  is  still  more  striking.  In  equal 
quantities  the  richest  milk  of  a  Jersey  cow  had  3.1  times  as  much  fat  as 


1890.]  MILK    AND   BUTTER   TESTS.  373 

that  of  the  Holstein  with  exceptionally  low  percentage  of  fat;  2.1  times 
as  much  as  that  of  one  Aryshire;  1.7  times  as  much  as  that  of  either 
Shorthorn,  and  1.5  times  as  much  as  that  of  one  other  Jersey.  If  the 
milk  was  bought  on  the  basis  of  quantity  of  fat  contained  in  it,  a  pound 
of  the  milk  of  this  Jersey  cow  would  be  worth  more  than  three  times  as 
much  as  a  pound  of  the  milk  of  the  cow  with  the  lowest  per  cent,  of  fat. 

If  the  milk  was  bought  with  sole  reference  to  its  value  for  butter 
making,  it  is  possible  there  would  be  even  more  difference  in  value  than 
is  indicated  by  the  differences  in  the  fat.  It  is  impossible  to  secure  all 
the  fat  in  the  milk  by  any  system  of  cream  separation  in  practical  use. 
The  skim  milk  from  different  cows  may  show  the  same  percentage  of  fat, 
but  this  is  obviously  a  less  percentage  of  the  total  fat  in  rich  than  in  poor 
milk.  As  much  as  one  per  cent,  of  fat  may  be  found  in  skim  milk  in 
some  cases.  This  would  be  almost  one-half  the  fat  in  the  milk  of  one 
cow  in  this  test,  and  less  than  one-sixth  of  that  of  one  other.  When  milk 
is  set  under  conditions  favorable  for  cream  raising,  and  especially  when 
the  centrifugal  separator  is  used,  the  percentage  of  fat  left  in  the  skim 
milk  is  comparatively  unimportant. 

Fat  is  not  the  only  valuable  element  in  milk.  The  other  solids  have 
also  a  decided  value.  Less  difference  is  found  in  this  test  when  the  solids 
other  than  fat  are  compared  with  each  other  than  in  the  case  of  the  fat. 
The  greatest  difference  in  this  respect  in  the  milk  of  any  two  cows  is  a 
little  less  than  33  per  cent.;  while  the  greatest  difference  in  the  average 
milk  of  the  cows  of  different  breeds  is  13  per  cent,  in  favor  of  the  Jerseys 
as  compared  with  the  Holsteins. 

It  is  a  mistake  to  consider  only  quantity  of  milk  or  only  per- 
centage of  fat  in  the  milk  of  a  cow  in  determining  her  value. 

The  four  Holsteins  giving  the  largest  yield  of  milk  were  milked 
three  times  during  the  day — noon,  evening,  and  morning.  It  was  notice- 
able that  in  each  case  the  morning's  milk  of  these  cows  showed  a  consid- 
erable less  percentage  of  fat  than  in  that  given  either  at  noon  or  at  night. 
In  one  case  the  night  milk  showed  4.45  and  the  morning,  2.68  per  cent,  of 
fat.  The  one  Holstein  cow  which  was  milked  but  twice,  also  had  a  less 
percentage  of  fat  in  the  morning's  than  in  the  night's  milk.  Of  the  other 
13  cows,  six  had  less  in  the  night  and  seven  less  in  the  morning  milk. 
One  Ayrshire  cow  showed  only  2.12  per  cent,  of  fat  at  night  and  4.16 
per  cent,  in  the  morning.  With  the  care  taken  in  securing  a  fair  sample 
of  milk  in  each  case,  and  in  analyzing  the  milk,  there  is  no  reasonable 
doubt  that  the  percentages  of  fat  given  are  correct;  but  the  differences 
noted  give  additional  emphasis  to  the  fact  that  no  single  test  can  be  con- 
clusive. 

Some  interesting  comparisons  with  the  results  at  this  trial  are  sug- 
gested by  the  results  of  the  milking  trials  at  the  show  of  the  British  Dairy 
Farmers'  Association,  held  in.  London,  the  first  week  in  October,  partial 
reports  of  which  have  been  received.  At  this  show  39  cows  went  through 
the  trial,  lasting  two  days.  In  making  the  awards  of  prizes  not  only  was 
3— 


374 


BULLETIN    NO.   12. 


[November, 


the  weight  of  fat  considered,  but  the  weight  of  solids  other  than  fat,  and 
of  the  whole  milk,  as  well  as  the  time  since  calving,  were  taken  into  ac- 
count, with  a  deduction  of  10  "points"  if  less  than  three  per  cent,  of  fat 
was  found  in  the  milk  given  at  any  one  of  the  four  milkings. 

The  accompanying  table  gives  a  summary  of  the  results  for  the 
Shorthorn,  Jersey,  and  Guernsey  cows  and  heifers  standing  highest  in  their 
classes,  and  for  a  single  cow  of  each  of  the  following  breeds:  Ayrshire, 
Dutch,  Red  Poll,  and  Dexter  Kerry,  the  only  ones  of  which  reports  are 
at  hand. 

MILK  YIELD  AND  COMPOSITION  OF  MILK  OF  Cows  OF  DIFFERENT  BREEDS,  Show  of 
British  Dairy  Farmers'  Association,   October,  1890. 


Breed  and  Class. 

«0§ 

-fc.  ^ 

**• 

O    _- 

Pr. 
p 

Fat,  Ib. 

Fat,   per 
cent. 

0 

s|2 

a-  ? 
1 

P-h° 

p  a 
~»SP 

vn~ 

«     r»    51 

*"     :TW 

O   pa 

r  3 

Shorthorn  cows   

(55-2 
•<  56.7 

2.27 
1.86 

4.  10 
1  .20 

13-46 

II   70 

9  36 
8  ?o 

Shorthorn  heifer  

(59-7 

20.2 

2.04 
i  .32 

3-44 

4.  52 

ii  Si 

14  OQ 

837 
Q   57 

Jersey  cows    

(31.9 

•1  27-8 

1.89 
I   7o 

5-92 
6  41* 

*5    51 

IS       6O 

9  59 

917 

Jersey  heifers     

(36.2 
(30-4 

J  2q.  I 

1.84 

1.79 
I   45 

5  08 

e    88 
5  •"" 

4.08 

1483 

15    71 
14   "}6 

9  75 
983 

Guernseys  

(29-5 
(49-2 

J  7C.C 

1.23 

2 

I  8 

4-20 

4.08 
5  .01 

13  08 

13   02 
14.  8^ 

8  88 

O             - 

Dutch  cow  

(26.4 
45 

I  .2 
1.  85 

4-54 
4.11 

13  48 

12   71 

8  94 
8  60 

Ayrshire  cow  

4*.'* 

1.88 

4.  1C 

12   9! 

8  76 

Red  Poll  Cow  

2Q  .  I 

I  .  14 

7  .OQ 

II   QC 

8  86 

Dexter  Kerry  cow  

26.6 

•I    11 

5.OO 

11    56 

8  56 

* 

In  striking  contrast  with  the  Peoria  trial  are  the  large  yields  of  milk 
by  the  Shorthorn  cows  and  the  one  Ayrshire,  and  the  creditable  quantity 
of  fat  produced  by  them.  No  one  cow  produced  so  much  fat  as  the  first 
prize  Holstein-Friesian  cow  at  Peoria.  Eleven  of  the  seventeen  cows 
gave  more  than  one  and  three-fourths  pounds  of  fat  in  a  day. 

The  fuller  report  from  which  the  above  table  is  compiled  shows 
more  striking  variations  in  the  results  in  the  milkings  of  the  same  cow. 
The  daily  milk  yield  of  two  or  three  cows  varied  more  than  five  pounds 
in  the  two  days.  In  the  case  of  one  Shorthorn  cow  the  evening  milk 
showed  twice  the  percentage  of  fat  found  in  the  morning  milk.  This  cow, 
No.  3  of  the  table,  and  the  first  prize  Guernsey  cow  suffered  a  loss  of  10 
"points"  because  the  fat  in  their  morning  milk  was  below  3  per  cent. 

During  the  progress  of  this  show  the  English  Jersey  Cattle  Society 
made  a  test  of  churning  one  day's  milk  of  each  of  13  Jersey  cows  and 
heifers.  The  largest  yields  were  2.21  and  2.09  pounds  of  butter.  Seven 


1890]  BUTTER    AND    MILK    TESTS.  375 

other  cows  gave  more  than  1.50  pounds.  The  largest  yield  of  milk  was 
43.87  pounds.  Of  the  milk  of  the  first  prize  cow  14.28  pounds  made  a 
pound  of  butter.  Of  that  of  the  cow  giving  the  largest  yield  of  milk, 
28.36  pounds  were  required.  The  very  creditable  average  result  for  the 
13  cows  and  heifers  was:  31  pounds  milk,  1.67  pounds  butter.  One  cow 
was  in  both  tests.  The  result  in  butter  was  almost  exactly  the  same  as 
the  average  quantity  of  fat  found  in  her  milk  during  the  two  days'  test. 

These  two  trials  were  of  cows  of  different  breeds  competing  for  prizes. 
Equally  striking  differences  may  be  found  in  farm  dairies,  and  any  farmer 
milking  cows. has  a  direct  interest  in  ascertaining  the  facts  concerning 
them.  Thus  a  dairy  of  35  cows,  near  Urbana,  was  visited  by  a  represent- 
ative of  this  Experiment  Station,  who  weighed  the  milk  from  each  cow 
and  took  a  sample  of  it.  This  was  done  at  each  of  the  two  milkings  in  24 
hours  and  the  percentage  of  fat  determined  in  the.  70  samples  so  collected. 
The  cows  were  in  their  winter  quarters,  were  of  fair  average  weight,  and 
in  good  flesh. 

Arranging  the  results  according  to  the  per  cents  of  fat  found  shows 
that  in  the  night's  milk 

2  cows  gave  milk  having  between  2  and  3  per  cent,  of  fat. 
21     "         "       "         "  "  3    "    4 

9     "         "       "         "  "          4    "    5         " 

3  "        "       "         "  "          5    "    6 

In  the  evening's  milk 

5  cows  gave  milk  having  between  2  and  3  per  cent,  of  fat. 
14     "        "       "        "  "         3    "    4        " 

9     "         "       "        "  "         4    "    5 

2     "        "      "        "  "         5    "    6 

I  cow       "       "         "  over  6         " 

The  average  per  cent,  of  fat  per  cow  in  the  nighi's  milk  was  3.8;  in 
the  morning's,  4.2. 

Dividing  the  herd  into  lots  of  seven  we  find  one  fifth  giving  an  aver- 
age of  5.35  per  cent,  of  fat;  while  another  fifth  gave  an  average  of  2.86 
per  cent,  of  fat — only  a  little  over  one-half  as  much. 

The  cows  gave  small  yields  of  milk;  the  average  per  cow  for  24 
hours  was  11.87  lb.;  highest  yield,  29  lb.;  lowest  yield,  5^  lb.  The  av- 
erage quantity  of  fat  was  0.45  lb.;  highest,  i  lb.;  lowest,  0.25  lb. 

The  importance  of  care  in  securing  a  fair  sample  of  all  the  milk  is 
shown  by  the  following  illustrations,  purposely  made  extreme.  A  very 
small  quantity  of  the  first  and  also  of  the  last  milk  drawn  from  each  of 
three  cows  in  the  University  herd  was  tested  with  this  result: 

Per  cent,  of  fat. 

First  milk.     Last  milk. 

Holstein         2.0  6.2 

Jersey  i.o  9.9 

Jersey  1.5  8.8 

A  sample  of  the  combined  milk  of  the  three  cows  showed  4.9  per 
cent,  of  fat. 

G.  E.  MORROW,  A.  M.,  Agriculturist. 


376  BULLETIN  NO.  i2.  [November y 

CREAM  RAISING  BY  DILUTION. 

Experiment  No.  115. 

A  series  of  experiments  was  made  in  September  last,  to  determine 
the  effect  of  diluting  milk  with  water  when  setting  it  for  cream  raising. 
As  further  experiments  in  this  direction  are  to  be  made,  the  results  are 
not  given  in  detail. 

In  these  experiments  the  milk  was  set  in  glass  vessels  three  inches  in 
diameter,  filled  to  the  depth  of  8  inches,  a  little  more  than  one  quart  of. 
milk  being  used  in  each  case.  In  one  series  of  the  experiments  the  milk 
was  set  when  at  95°  F.;  in  another  at  90°  F.  The  water  added  varied  in 
the  different  trials  from  530  F.  to  57°  F.;  the  air  temperature  from  46°  F. 
(in  the  night)  to  75°  F. 

In  every  case  the  addition  of  water  caused  the  cream  to  rise  more 
quickly  than  when  water  was  not  added;  and  in  all  cases  the  time  de- 
creased as  the  percentage  of  water  increased.  When  the  mixture  was 
equal  quantities  of  water  and  milk,  nearly  all  the  fat  secured  apparently 
rose  within  one  hour,  or  one  and  one-half  hours,  the  volume  of  cream 
decreasing  after  this  time.  . 

When  no  water  was  added  the  volume  of  cream  continued  to  increase 
for  at  least  ten  hours.  In  one  case  about  one-half  the  fat  only  rose  in 
ten  hours  when  no  water  was  added,  nearly  one-half  of  the  remainder 
rising  after  the  milk  was  allowed  to  stand  16  hours  longer;  while  nearly 
three-fourths  rose  in  ten  hours  (probably  much'less)  when  an  equal  quan- 
tity of  water  had  been  added  to  the  milk  and  only  a  very  small  addi- 
tional percentage  was  secured  because  of  the  additional  16  hours'  standing. 
When  the  water  was  added  to  the  milk,  especially  if  in  equal  volume, 
the  cream  not  only  rose  more  quickly,  but  the  line  of  separation  was 
quite  distinct  from  the  first  hour.  When  no  water  was  added  the  line  of 
separation  was  indistinct  for  several  hours. 

When  the  milk  was  set  in  moderately  cool  water  the  fat  was  more 
completely  separated  than  when  in  the  air,  but  here,  as  in  the  other  case, 
the  dilution  with  water  hastened  the  rising  of  the  cream  and  left  a  smaller 
percentage  of  fat. 

In  trials  with  the  milk  of  individual  cows,  it  was  proved  that  the 
cream  rose  much  more  completely  from  the  milk  of  some  cows  than  from 
that  of  others,  not  only  when  the  milk  of  each  cow  was  set  by  itself,  but 
when  an  equal  quantity  of  water  was  added.  In  the  case  of  one  Jersey 
cow,  the  skim  milk  had  .93  per  cent  of  fat;  that  of  two  Holstein  cows, 
under  like  conditions,  1.24  and  1.35  respectfully.  This  when  the  undiluted 
milk  was  set  for  15  hours.  When  an  equal  volume  of  water  was  added  to 
the  milk,  the  differences  were  much  more  marked  and  smaller  percentages 
were  in  the  milk  of  the  Holstein.  Corrected  for  the  water  added,  the  skim 
milk  showed  fat  percentage  as  follows:  Jersey,  1.21;  Holsteins,  .60  and 
,  respectively. 


THE    HESSIAN    FLY.  377 

These  experiments  do  not  make  it  probable  that  adding  water  to  the 
milk  is  a  desirable  substitute  for  setting  in  cold  or  ice  water.  They  do 
suggest  that  dilution  may  be  helpful  if  ice  or  a  considerable  quantity  of 
cold  water  cannot  be  secured.  They  do  not  clearly  show  the  influence  of 
a  higher  or  lower  temperature  of  the  water  added. 

The  more  rapid  rising  of  the  cream  is  an  advantage,  and  the  dilution 
and  consequent  lessened  value  of  the  skim  milk  is  a  disadvantage,  of  the 
dilution  method. 

There  is  a  possibility  of  being  easily  misled  as  to  the  gain  from  di- 
luting the  milk.  The  cream  not  only  rises  more  quickly,  but  is  thinner; 
that  is,  contains  less  fat  in  a  given  volume  than  when  no  water  is  added, 
while  the  diluted  skim  milk  will  look  bluer,  and  chemical  analysis  will,  of 
course,  show  a  less  percentage  of  fat  in  it,  because  of  the  added  water. 

G.  E.  MORROW,  A.  M.,  Agriculturist. 
E.  H.  FARRINGTON,  M.  S.,  Assistant  Chemist. 


THE  HESSIAN  FLY. 

The  very  general  occurrence  of  the  Hessian  fly  this  season  in  destruc- 
tive numbers  in  parts  of  central  Illinois  where  it  is  but  little  known  by  the 
practical  farmer,  and  where  the  most  important  preventive  measures  are 
not  commonly  understood,  makes  it  desirable  that  a  general  account  of 
the  principal  facts  in  its  life  history  and  economic  relations  should  be 
now  presented. 

The  views  of  the  history  and  habits  of  this  insect  current  among  those 
who  suffer  from  its  ravages,  are  often  confused  and  largely  erroneous, 
chiefly  because  the  egg  is  minute  and  almost  never  seen  by  the  ordinary 
observer,  the  young  maggot  being  commonly  mistaken  for  it, — and  be- 
cause very  few  have  ever  recognized  or  seen  the  adult  winged  insect. 

The  Hessian  fly  is,  in  this  state,  practically  a  wheat  insect  only,  its 
occurrence  here  in  rye  being  merely  occasional.  Each  generation  goes 
through  the  four  distinct  stages  of  (i)  the  egg,  (2)  the  maggot  or  larva,  (3) 
the  pupa  or  "flaxseed,"  and  (4)  the  adult  or  winged  insect.  The  injury  is 
done  wholly  in  the  second  of  these  stages, — the  "flaxseed"  being  dor- 
mant, a  stage  of  transformation  merely  from  the  maggot  to  the  winged  fly 
— and  the  latter  being  itself  entirely  harmless.  [See  plate,  p.  j8o.~\ 

There  are  always  two  destructive  generations  in  a  single  year,  and 
tinder  some  circumstances  at  least  three.  In  fact,  I  have  obtained  evi- 
dence this  spring  from  breeding  cage  and  experimental  work  in  the  new 


378  BULLETIN  NO.  12.  \November, 

insectary  of  this  office,  that  there  may  be  even  four  generations  which  at- 
tack the  wheat  with  destructive  effect, — two  in  the  spring  and  two  in  au- 
tumn. The  principal  injuries,  however,  are  done  by  the  last  autumnal  and 
the  first  spring  generations. 

The  eggs  are  a  slender  oval,  about  a  fiftieth  of  an  inch  in  length,  and 
small  enough  to  lie  lengthwise  in  the  grooves  upon  the  upper  surface  of  the 
leaf  of  the  wheat.  Those  for  the  principal  autumn  brood  of  the  maggots 
are  laid  most  commonly  upon  the  leaf  of  the  young  wheat.  The  maggot 
hatching  from  these  makes  its  way  down -the  leaf  to  the  base  of  its  sheath 
near  the  root,  and  here  this  milk-white,  oval,  smooth  larva  remains  almost 
motionless,  until  it  gets  its  growth — commonly  in  November — after  which 
it  forms  a  tough,  smooth,  dark  brown  case,  within  which  it  spends  the 
winter,  still  in  the  same  position.  From  this  case  (the  "flaxseed  "  above 
mentioned)  the  winged  insect  bursts  forth  about  the  first  of  the  following 
April,  in  the  form  of  a  delicate,  nearly  black,  two-winged  fly  or  gnat, 
which  has  a  very  close  resemblance  to  a  small  mosquito.  The  sexes  pair 
at  once,  and  the  eggs  for  another  generation  are  laid  almost  immediately 
in  the  field,  the  adults  perishing  soon  thereafter. 

The  maggots  hatching  from  these  spring  eggs  go  through  the  same 
course  of  development,  at  the  base  of  the  stalk,  behind  the  sheath  of  the 
leaf,  and  do  the  principal  part  of  the  damage  noticed  in  the  spring,  caus- 
ing the  well-known  "  crinkling  "  or  falling  down  of  the  straw  as  the  wheat 
heads  out.  Many  of  the  winged  flies  of  this  brood  hatch  some  time  be- 
fore harvest,  beginning  to  appear,  in  fact,  by  the  end  of  May,  and  these 
lay  eggs  at  once  and  give  rise  to  a  second  spring  brood, — a  fact  clearly  es- 
tablished this  season  by  breeding  experiments  at  Champaign.  By  harvest 
practically  all  are  in  the  so-called  flaxseed  state,  and  the  greater  part  of 
them  remain  behind  in  this  condition  in  the  stubble  after  the  grain  is  cut. 
A  few,  however,  are  carried  away  with  the"  straw.  From  these  harvest- 
time  flaxseeds  the  fall  generations  descend,  the  first  of  them  appearing 
either  in  the  volunteer  grain  or  in  early  sown  wheat,  and  the  second — the 
hibernating  generation  already  referred  to — in  wheat  of  the  regular  crop. 
The  laying  of  the  eggs  for  the  first  of  these  generations  certainly  begins 
by  September  ist,  and  apparently  somewhat  earlier.  The  average  length 
of  life  of  one  generation  or  brood  (except  the  hibernating  one),  from  any 
stage  around  to  the  same  stage  again,  is  about  six  weeks. 

It  is,  however,  a  fact  of  considerable  economic  interest  that  this  di- 
vision into  generations  is  not  anywhere  complete,  but  that  flaxseeds  of  any 
generation  may  lie  dormant  during  the  whole  life  of  a  generation  follow- 
ing, finally  hatching  with  the  descendents  of  their  original  contempora- 
ries. Thus,  of  those  flaxseeds  which  form  in  May  and  June,  some  may 
give  the  winged  fly  in  June  and  July  and  others  not  until  September;  and 
some  of  those  which  form  in  volunteer  wheat  in  September,  may  hibernate 
and  emerge  the  following  spring. 

My  experiments  made  to  test  the  possibility  that  the  Hessian  fly  will 
breed  in  wild  and  meadow  grasses  have  thus  far  yielded  negative  results. 


1890.]  EXTERMINATION    OF    CANADA    THISTLES.  379 

This  life  history,  complicated  as  it  is,  will  repay  careful  study  by  every 
wheat  farmer,  for  on  it  must  be  based  all  practical  measures  for  the  pre- 
vention of  injury  to  the  wheat.  [See  illustration,  p.  380^ 

The  most  important  general  preventive  and  remedial  measures  are 
the  following: 

I.  As  a  large  percentage  of  the  insects  remains  in  the  stubble  at  harvest,  in  the  flax- 
seed  state,  and  as  the  flies  which  hatch  from  them  later  are  weak  and  delicate,  the  ground 
may  well  be  plowed  as  soon  after  harvest  as  practicable,  and  rolled  to  close  the  cracks 
through  which  the  winged  insects  might  escape.  If  the  stubble  can  be  made  to  burn, 
this  will,  of  course,  destroy  the  flaxseeds  even  more  effectually. 

2.  The  volunteer  grain  springing  up  in  the  fields  must  be  closely  watched,  and  meas- 
ures taken  to  destroy  it  about  four  weeks  after  its  appearance,  as  it  will  otherwise  assist  to 
carry  the  insect  through  the  summer  in  undiminished  or  perhaps  larger  numbers.     The 
most  convenient  method  of  doing  this  will  depend  so  much  upon  the  season  and  the  crop- 
ping planned,  that  each  must  select  his  method  for  himself. 

3.  Such  of  the  flaxseeds  as  are  carried  away  in  the  grain  may  be  destroyed  by  heat- 
ing or  burning  the  screenings  from  the  thresher,  if  the  wheat  is  threshed  at  once. 

4.  To  prevent  the  wheat  from  becoming  infested  in  fall  by  the  first  autumnal  brood, 
and  to  escape  as  much  of  the  second  as  possible,  the  sowing  of  the  wheat  may,  with  ad- 
vantage, be  postponed  as  late  as  is  consistent  with  its  reasonable  safety   from   winter- 
killing—to the  last  of  September  or  the  first  of  October,  according  to  the  common  prac-. 
tice  in  the  southern  half  of  Illinois. 

5.  The  damage  done  by  any  but  the  severest  kind  of  an  attack  will  depend,  other 
things  being  equal,  on  the  fertility  of  the  soil  and  the  strength  of  the  plant.    If  the  latter 
be  strong  enough  to  send  out  from  the  root  new  and  vigorous  stalks  to  replace  those 
killed  by  the  maggots  of  the  fly,  a  considerable  amount  of  fly  attack  may  be  scarcely 
noticeable  at  harvest  time.     From  this  it  follows  that  the  maintenance  of  the  fertility  of 
the  soil  is  often  a  measurable  safeguard  against  loss.     I  have  no  doubt  that  the  soluble 
commercial  fertilizers  applied  in  spring  to  infested  fields  would  have  a   happy   effect, 
whether  with  profit  or  not  can  only  be  tested  by  experiment. 

6.  Finally,  other  things  being  equal,  those  varieties  of  wheat  with  a  stiff  and  flinty 
stem,  and  those  which  tiller  somewhat  freely  from  the  root,  will  suffer  least  under  fly  at- 
tack— the  first  because  the  straw  will  not  so  readily  bend  or  break  at  the  point  weakened 
by  the  maggot;  and  the  second  because  the  flies  of  the  second  spring  brood  select  fresh 
young  shoots  for  the  deposition  of  their  eggs  in  preference  to  the  older  and  tougher  stalks, 
with  the  effect  to  kill  only  these  valueless  sprouts  and  to  diminish  by  so  much  the  injury 
to  the  heading  stems. 

S.  A.   FORBES,  Ph.  D.,  Consulting  Entomologist. 


CANADA  THISTLES,  THEIR  EXTERMINATION. 

Experiment  No.  92. 

The  so-called  Canada  thistles  are,  in  certain  great  areas  of  our  coun- 
try, justly  considered  the  worst  weed-pests  of  tillable  land.  (Notwith- 
standing the  popular  name,  the  plant  is  of  European  origin  and  was  early 
introduced  throughout  our  eastern  seaboards  and  thence  more  or  less 
scattered  westward.)  Among  all  bad  weeds  they  are  pre-eminently  bad 


38o 


BULLETIN    NO.  12. 


[November, 


Explanation  of  Plate.  The  Hessian  fly  and  its  transformations.  A  healthy  stalk 
of  wheat  on  the  left,  the  one  on  the  right  dwarfed  and  the  lower  leaves  beginning  to  wither 
and  turn  yellow;  the  stem  swollen  at  three  places  near  the  ground,  where  the  flaxseeds 
(A)  are  situated,  between  the  stem  and  sheathing  base  of  the  leaf. 

ai  egg  °f  tfie  Hessian  fly  (greatly  enlarged,  as  are  all  the  figures  except  e  and  A);  b, 
the  maggot,  enlarged,  the  line  by  the  side,  in  this  and  other  figures,  showing  the  natural 
length;  c,  the  flaxseed,  puparium,  or  pupa  case;  </,  the  pupa  or  chrysalis;  f,  the  Hessian 
fly,  natural  size,  laying  its  eggs  in  the  creases  of  the  leaf;  f,  female  Hessian  fly  much  en- 
larged; g,  male  Hessian  fly;  A,  flaxseed  between  the  leaves  and  stalk;  i,  parasite  of  the 
Hessian  fly,  male,  enlarged. 


1890.]  EXTERMINATION    OF    CANADA   THISTLES.  381 

Their  facility  of  distribution  by  seeds,  their  perennial  multiplication  by 
root-stocks,  their  great  tenacity  of  life,  their  rank  growth,  and  their  defen- 
sive, sharp-pointed  spines  cause  them  to  be  dreaded  by  the  farmer  and 
avoided  by  his  flocks  and  herds.  It  is  not  strange  therefore,  that  in  the 
Mississippi  valley  several  of  the  state  legislatures  have  enacted  special 
laws  intended  to  prevent  the  introduction  of  this  well  recognized  pest  and 
to  exterminate  it  where  it  has  obtained  a  foot-hold.  In  Illinois  such 
enactments  have  been  in  force  since  February  28,  1867,  and  the  present 
law  dates  from  March  15,  1872.  Any  board  of  town  auditors,  or  com- 
missioners in  counties  not  under  township  organization,  any  city  council, 
or  trustees  of  villages,  may  appoint  a  "Commissioner  of  Canada  thistles," 
who,  when  appointed,  is  clothed  with  proper  authority  and  required  to 
attend  to  the  thorough  eradication  of  every  plant  of  this  noxious  weed. 
Prosecutions  may  be  made  and  fines  imposed  upon  anyone  neglecting 
the  requirements  of,  or  refusing  to  obey,  the  law.  The  only  other  weed 
against  which  the  laws  of  our  state  are  directed  is  that  known  as  the 
cocklebur — act  in  force  July  i,  1879,  an(^  aPPtymg  only  to  highways. 

But  no  law,  in  and  of  itself,  can  extirpate  Canada  thistles,  and  the 
provisions  of  the  Illinois  statute  have  been  much  too  often  neglected. 
There  exist  to-day,  within  the  borders  of  our  state,  numerous  patches  of 
these  thistles — centers  from  which,  in  the  ordinary  course  of  distribu- 
tion, larger  areas  must  become  infected.  It  is  high  time  that  the  battle 
of  extermination  should  be  earnestly  begun  and  persistently  continued 
until  not  a  plant  is  left  to  perpetuate  its  kind.  This  is  entirely  feasible 
as  the  account  hereafter  given  shows.  Whatever  may  be  thought  of  the 
reproductive  and  recuperative  powers  of-  these  noxious  plants,  they  can 
be  beaten  at  no  great  cost  if  the  warfare  is  begun  early  enough,  though 
each  year's  delay  must  make  the  expenditure  greater.  But  even  after  the 
total  annihilation  of  the  plant  we  should  still  have  to  be  alert,  however, 
to  prevent  its  regaining  a  foothold  with  us,  because  it  is  very  liable  to 
be  reintroduced,  especially  in  the  packing  used  in  shipping  heavy  goods, 
like  iron  castings  and  marble,  from  the  New  England  states  and  Canada. 
Most  of  the  plants  now  found  in  Illinois  are  from  seed  originally  brought 
in  this  way.  But  if  attended  to  at  once  any  such  new  starts  would  be 
easily  subdued. 

Having  thus  recognized  Canada  thistles  as  exceedingly  bad  weeds  in 
Illinois  and,  as  such,  appropriately  condemned  by  special  laws,  it  must 
be  said  further  that  throughout  most  of  our  area  the  plant  is  by  no  means 
so  obnoxious  as  it  is  in  poorer  and  more  clayey  soils  further  north  and 
east.  A  very  striking  pecularity  in  the  development  of  the  plant  in  Illi- 
nois, and  the  adjoining  regions,  is  that  it  rarely  produces  seed.  Nowhere 
is  the  weed  more  vigorous  in  its  growth  and  nowhere  does  it  spread  more 
rapidly  through  the  soil  by  its  subterranean  root-stocks,  and  nowhere  are 
flowers  more  abundantly  formed;  but  for  some  unknown  reason,  seed, 
capable  of  germinating,  is  almost  never  developed  in  Ohio,  Indiana,  and 
Illinois,  except  in  certain  restricted  areas.  This  is  probably  true  of  other 


382  BULLETIN  NO.  12.  [November, 

parts  of  the  Mississippi  valley,  though  the  writer  has  no  direct  knowledge 
upon  the  subject  beyond  the  boundaries  named.  On  the  bluffs  bordering 
Lake  Michigan,  in  Illinois,  seed  is  not  rare  in  the  heads  of  the  great 
numbers  of  plants  there  everywhere  found.  But  this  does  not  change  the 
general  statement  just  made.  By  a  careful  examination  of  hundreds  of 
these  heads  grown  in  the  central  part  of  Illinois,  and  from  scores  of 
different  patches  of  the  plant,  not  a  single  sound  seed  has  been  found.  It 
is  much  to  be  regretted  that  the  cause  of  this  peculiarity  cannot  be  now 
given.  No  doubt  there  is  a  reasonable  explanation,  and  no  doubt  suffi- 
cient further  investigation  would  reveal  the  cause  of  the  observed  unfruit- 
fulness.  In  the  localities  where  the  plant  does  produce  seed  in  abun- 
nance,  there  are  two  easily  recognized  forms  of  the  thistle.  One  plant  has 
a  shorter  stem,  more  condensed  foliage,  with  smaller  and  more  numer- 
ous leaf  lobes,  and  a  decidedly  shorter  head  or  flower  cluster  than  the 
other.  There  is  also  a  different  shade  of  green  in  the  foliage,  which  is 
easily  recognized,  when  the  plants  are  side  by  side,  in  a  good  light.  As 
the  flower  heads  mature  an  examination  reveals  the  fact  that  the  shorter 
ones  never  produce  seed  capable  of  germination,  though  the  rudiment  of 
the  fruit  is  present.  In  these  heads  the  pappus  or  downy  growth  fitted 
for  carrying  the  seed  through  the  air,  has  comparatively  little  develop- 
ment, while  it  is  abundant  in  the  heads  of  the  other  form.  If  now  we  ex- 
amine more  closely  we  shall  find  that  the  flofets  of  the  shorter  heads  pro- 
duce an  abundance  of  pollen,  while  in  those  of  the  longer  heads  the  sta- 
mens are  rudimentary,  or  at  least  bear  little  or  no  pollen.  The  pappus 
of  the  latter  attains  double  the  length  of  that  of  the  shorter  heads,  and 
admirably  serves  the  purpose. of  widely  distributing  the  abundantly  pro- 
duced seed.  We  see,  therefore,  that  the  plants  are  essentially  male  and 
female,  or  staminate  and  pistillate  as  the  botanists  call  them,  though  in 
both  all  the  parts  of  a  perfect  flower  exist  structurally.  All  the  stems 
springing  from  the  same  root  are  alike  in  this  respect,  so  that  it  is  com- 
mon to  find  each  form  in  separate  patches  of  greater  or  less  extent.  Nu- 
merous insects  visit  the  flowers  and  carry  the  adhesive  pollen  from 
patch  to  patch.  Possibly  some  pollen  is  thus  carried  by  the  wind, 
though  it  is  better  fitted  for  the  former  method  of  distribution. 

The  seeds  maturing  in  July  and  August,  germinate  at  once,  under 
suitable  conditions  and  the  hardy  little  plantlets  survive  the  winter,  ready 
for  the  first  opportunity  in  the  spring  to  push  into  vigorous  growth, 
though  no  doubt  much  of  the  seed  lies  unsprouted  in  the  ground  during 
the  winter. 

This  species  differs  from  all  other  thistles  in  our  country,  in  the  pos- 
session of  underground  stems,  called  root-stocks.  These  are  white, 
flexible,  often  greatly  elongated  growths,  sufficiently  different  from  the 
true  roots  to  be  readily  recognized  by  any  one.  These  root-stocks,  un- 
like roots,  are  abundantly  furnished  with  buds,  from  which  the  new,  air- 
growing  stems  may  arise.  They  usually  grow  horizontally  in  the  soil,  at 
depths  varying  from  a  few  inches  to  from  one  to  two  feet.  Separation 


1890.]  EXTERMINATION    OF    CANADA    THISTLES.  383 

from  the  mother  plant  does  not  kill  them,  because  in  the  normal  condi- 
tion of  things  they  are  abundantly  supplied  with  stored  nutriment  quite 
sufficient  to  enable  the  young,  upward-rising  stems  to  reach  the  surface 
and  develop  their  first  green  leaves.  Then  these  new  leaves  furnish  a 
further  supply  to  the  subterranean  root-stock,  and  its  continued  growth  is 
rendered  possible.  It  is  in  this  way  that  a  single  plant  of  Canada  thistle 
may  give  origin  to  an  acre's  dense  growth  in  a  few  years  without  the  pro- 
duction of  a  single  seed.  In  the  winter  this  subterranean  part  of  the 
plants  is  not  killed,  hence  the  early  and  abundant  development  of  the 
aerial  portion  in  the  succeeding  spring  and  summer. 

This  plant  has  few  natural  enemies,  but  it  does  not  altogether  escape. 
Certain  parasitic  fungi  blister  and  corrode  its  spine-bearing  leaves. 
Among  these  Puccinia  suaveolens,  a  rust  like  that  of  wheat,  sometimes  aids 
considerably  in  checking  the  growth  and  reproduction  of  the  thistles.  A 
little  fly  renders  still  better  service,  in  destroying  the  seeds  where  these 
mature.  In  August,  1889,  the  writer  collected  heads  of  this  thistle  in  On- 
tario, Canada,  and  put  some  of  them  into  a  box  where  they  remained  un- 
til November,  1890.  At  the  latter  date  the  box  was  opened  and  there  were 
found  good  specimens  of  this  pretty  fly,  which  Mr.  John  Marten  kindly 
identified  as  Trypeta  florescentiae,  described  in  Loew's  Monographs  of  the 
Diptera  of  North  America,  Part  III.,  p.  254.  In  this  place  it  is  said  the 
larvae  inhabit  the  flower  heads  of  different  species  of  thistles  in  Canada 
and  all  Europe.  I  do  not  know  that  the  fly  has  been  observed  in  Illinois, 
though  several  other  insects  help  in  destroying  the  seeds  of  other  thistles. 

The  most  important  question  in  this  matter,  and  the  special  one  for 
which  this  report  is  made,  is  how  may  Canada  thistles  be  exterminated  in 
the  surest  manner  and  with  the  least  expense.  As  at  least  a  partial 
answer  to  this  question  the  following  account  is  submitted: 

Information  having  been  received  of  the  existence  of  a  patch  of  Can- 
ada thistles  near  Mattoon,  111.,  on  the  farm  of  Mr.  Wm.  Burgess,  and  hav- 
ing the  promise  of  the  proprietor  to  furnish  the  necessary  labor,  this  Ex- 
periment Station  undertook  the  direction  of  their  extermination.  Upon  a 
personal  inspection  it  was  found  that  the  patch  consisted  of  about  two 
and  one-half  acres  in  the  corner  of  a  field  recently  purchased  by  Mr.  Bur- 
gess. The  land  was  originally  prairie  and  the  soil  continues  to  be  rich 
and  black.  The  surface  is  generally,  in  this  region,  very  level  but  the 
thistles  occupied  the  crest  of  a  slight  elevation.  Some  of  the  neighbors 
knew  that  they  had  existed  in  this  spot  during  at  least  eight  years,  but 
no  further  history  of  the  patch  could  be  obtained.  No  others  were 
known  in  the  neighborhood  though  some  had  grown  in  certain  streets  of 
the  town  less  than  two  miles  away.  That  these  thistles  in  the  farm  patch 
had  not  spread  by  seed  was  evident,  because  in  that  case  they  would  have 
been  far  more  widely  dispersed  over  the  adjoining  fields  in  which  there 
existed  no  greater  obstacles  to  their  growth  than  were  present  in  this  spe- 
rial  corner.  During  the  last  year  it  has  been  observed  that  the  plants  had 
spread  upon  the  borders  of  the  patch  two  or  three  rods  into  previously 


384  BULLETIN  NO.  12.  \November, 

unoccupied  ground,  and  this  in  spite  of  the  cultivation  and  growth  of  a  crop 
of  corn.  When  the  field  was  visited  June  22,  1889,  the  thistles  were  found 
to  be  about  two  feet  high,budded  for  bloom,  and  so  thick  upon  the  ground 
that  it  seemed  impossible  for  anymore  to  gain  standing  room.  Unless  one 
wore  leather  leggins  it  was  painful  business  to  walk  through  them,  and 
horses  refused  to  be  driven  through  for  the  same  reason.  Upon  digging 
down  in  the  earth  the  soil  was  found  to  be  plentifully  supplied  with  the 
horizontal  root-stocks,  the  lowest  of  which  were  nearly  two  feet  from  the 
surface, — most  adundant  however  about  one  foot  deep.  After  surveying 
the  special  conditions  of  the  place  three  experiments  were  determined 
upon  as  set  forth  in  the  letter  of  instructions,  written  after  the  examiner  re- 
turned home,  and  from  which  the  following  extract  is  made: 

1.  Cut  the  thistles  as  close  to  the  ground  as  possible  with  scythe  or  otherwise  when 
in  full  bloom.     It  is  supposed  that  this  work  will  be  required  during  the  first  week  in 
July. 

2.  Divide  the  land  in  three  equal  strips  running  north  and  south.     Plow  strip  No.  I 
as  soon  as  practicable  after  cutting.     Then  harrow  well  to  bring  the  roots  to  the  surface. 
Sow  millet  or  Hungarian  grass  seed  at  once,  so  as  to  make  a  heavy  crop.   The  plowing  in 
no  place  to  be  more  than  four  inches  deep.     It  is  expected  that  this  crop  with  that  of  the 
thistles  that  will  grow  will  be  plowed  under  later  in  the  season  when  rye  is  to  be  sown,  to 
be  similarly  turned  under  next  spring. 

On  the  second  strip,  after  the  first  mowing,  leave  the  land  until  the  thistles  sprout 
anew,  about  10  days,  then  plow  say  four  inches  deep  and  harrow.  Leave  this  land  with- 
out crop  of  any  kind  this  year;  but  with  some  surface  cultivator,  which  will  effectually 
remove  all  of  the  new'growth  of  thistles,  go  over  the  land  as  often  during  the  season  as 
the  thistles  make  their  appearance  above  the  surface,  or  once  in  about  two  weeks.  During 
the  driest  weather  the  interval  may  perhaps  be  longer. 

On  the  third  strip,  soon  after  the  thistles  are  cut,  cover  'such  part  as  may  be  practi- 
cable with  straw,  so  that  it  will  be  six  inches  deep  when  well  settled,  taking  care  that  it 
is  evenly  spread.  On  the  rest  of  the  strip  spread  a  heavy  coat  of  barn-yard  manure  at  the 
rate  of  thirty  good  sized  loads  to  the  acre.  After  it  is  thoroughly  spread  plow  the  land 
as  in  the  first  and  second  strips,  and  cultivate  in  same  manner  as  the  second  strip. 

3.  In  all  this  work  ultimate  success  will  depend  upon  the  thoroughness  with  which 
the  attempt  at  eradication  is  made,  and  it  will  be  desirable  to  have  these  directions 
closely  followed. 

October  8,  1889,  Mr.  W.  C.  Lane,  who  rented  the  farm  and  to  whom 
was  entrusted  the  execution  of  the  plans  for  extermination!,  reported 
that  the  whole  patch  had  been  mowed  July  lyth,  when  the  plants  were 
in  full  bloom  with  some  of  the  first  flowers  becoming  dry.  Wet  weather 
followed  and  further  operations  were  somewhat  delayed,  but  July  3ist  and 
August  ist  lots  i  and  2  were  plowed  and  harrowed  and  the  n'ext  day  lot  2 
was  sowed  with  millet  at  the  rate  of  one  bushel  to  the  acre.  Lot  3  was 
now  manured  as  directed  and  plowed  and  harrowed,  but  the  straw  was 
not  applied.  At  the  time  of  the  plowing  numerous  sprouts  had  started 
from  the  old  stocks.  Rain  occurred  and  the  millet  made  a  good  start. 
August  2oth,  fresh  plants  about  2  inches  high  were  abundant  and  lots  i 
and  3  were  thoroughly  cut  with  a  disk  harrow,  which  in  the  rather  mellow 
ground  did  good  execution.  September  loth  the  disk  harrow  was  again 
tried,  but  this  time  on  account  of  considerable  rain  the  ground  proved 


1890.]  EXTERMINATION    OF    CANADA   THISTLES.  385 

too  hard  for  the  implement  to  destroy  all  the  plants  and  a  plow  was  sub- 
stituted. At  this  time  the  thistles  in  the  millet  were  very  numerous  and 
4  to  5  inches  high  while  the  millet  itself  was  about  one  foot  high.  The 
whole  was  turned  under.  At  the  date  of  the  report  (October  8th)  the 
whole  had  just  been  replowed  and  seeded  with  i^  bushels  per  acre  of 
rye.  Preceding  this  plowing  it  was  observed  that  the  thistles  on  the  part 
having  millet  were  not  half  so  thick  as  on  the  other  portions,  but  no  de- 
cided difference  was  observed  on  the  manured  plot.  The  total  expense  to 
date  was  $13.75.  This  included  wages  for  a  man  at  $1.25  per  day  and  a 
man  and  team  at  $2.50  per  day. 

From  April  15  to  25,  1890,  the  rye,  which  had  made  a  good  stand,  was 
plowed  under  and  the  ground  thoroughly  harrowed.  Some  thistles  of 
weak  growth  had  appeared  in  the  rye  before  this  plowing  and  scattering 
ones  came  up  afterward,  but  very  different  in  vigor  from  those  of  the  pre- 
ceding year.  A  second  and  third  plowing  followed  May  25th  and  June 
25th.  A  visit  was  made  to  the  place  on  the  first  of  these  dates,  while  the 
team  was  at  work,  and  a  close  examination  was  made  for  living  thistles 
which  were  found  to  be  few  in  number  and  widely  scattered.  There  were 
still  great  numbers  of  subterranean  portions  of  the  plants  turned  up  by 
the  plow,  but  except  in  very  rare  instances  these  were  dead  and  beginning 
to  decay.  A  plat  one  rod  wide  and  ten  rods  long  was  measured  off,  upon 
which  a  year  before  thousands  of  distinct  thistles  were  luxuriantly  growing, 
and  an  exhaustive  search  was  made  for  living  plants  then  showing  above 
ground.  It  will  be  remembered  that  this  was  two  months  subsequent  to 
the  last  plowing  during  which  time  the  thistles  had  aa  excellent  chance  to 
grow,  as  far  as  external  conditions  werfe  concerned.  Twenty-six  such 
plants  were  found,  all  small  and  of  feeble  growth.  At  the  tim  e  of  the  third 
plowing  in  June,  there  were  reported  still  fewer  plants.  July  i4th,  no 
thistles  having  again  appeared,  all  but  half  an  acre  of  the  area  was  sowed 
with  about  one  bushel  of  millet  seed  per  acre.  At  this  time  the  ground 
was  quite  dry  and  little  rain  fell  during  several  succeeding  weeks.  The 
millet  made  a  comparatively  poor  growth,  yet  not  a  single  thistle  could  be 
found  in  this  part  of  the  field  at  any  time  during  the  season.  The  millet 
was  cut  for  hay  September  i5th.  The  half  acre  not  seeded  with  millet  was 
worked  with  the  disk  harrow  August  2oth,  after  which  nothing  was  done 
except  to  search  from  time  to  time  for  thistles  of  which  up  to  the  time  of 
the  report  (October  8th)  45  plants  had  been  found.  These  were  com- 
monly found  in  little  clusters,  2  to  4  together,  springing  from  the  same 
subterranean  source. 

From  the  above  it  may  be  assumed  that  the  job  is  practically  com- 
pleted, though  careful  cultivation  should  be  given  some  crop  on  the 
ground  next  year,  and  the  closest  possible  watch  kept  during  the  season 
for  the  last  straggling  representatives  of  their  wonderfully  vigorous  prede- 
cessors. It  will  be  observed  that  the  original  directions  were  not  fully 
followed.  This  resulted  from  the  fact  that  the  man  who  did  the  work  was 
so  thoroughly  occupied  by  other  duties  on  the  farm,  that  could  not  give 


386  BULLETIN  NO.  12.  [November, 

this  experiment  more  time.  It  seems,  however,  that  little  difference  could 
be  observed  the  second  year  on  account  of  the  difference  in  treatment  of 
parts  of  the  field  the  first  year.  That  upon  which  the  first  millet  grew 
probably  had  the  fewest  thistles  during  the  early  part  of  the  second  year, 
but  we  have  no  exact  data.  The  manure  was  applied  with  the  hope  of  so 
stimulating  the  growth  of  the  plants  that  the  shock  of  disturbance  with 
plow  or  otherwise  would  have  more  effect.  It  is  regretted  that  we  have 
here  nothing  positive  from  the  results,  or  rather  that  the  observations 
were  not  critically  enough  made  to  make  known  such  diferences  as  prob- 
ably existed. 

The  expenses  for  the  second  year  amounted  to  $17.50  with  a  credit 
for  hay  (millet)  of  about  $5.00,  or  a  net  cost  of  $12.50.  Adding  that  of 
the  previous  year  we  have  for  the  total  expense  $26.25,  or  $10.50  per  acre. 
That  amount  would  have  been  less  had  the  entire  plat  been  treated  in  the 
same  manner  during  the  first  year;  for,  of  necessity,  time  was  lost  in 
changing  from  one  thing  to  another  in  managing  the  small  areas.  It  ought 
to  be  said  that  during  the  second  year  a  strip  twenty-five  feet  wide  around 
the  patch,  outside  of  the  outermost  thistles,  was  treated  the  same  as  the 
infested  area,  to  make  assurance  doubly  sure. 

From  the  experience  obtained,  and  from  other  information,  we  may 
formulate  the  best  method  of  exterminating  these  pests  when  in  full  pos-- 
session  of  tillable  ground  as  follows: 

1.  Cut  the  thistles  when  in  full  bloom  [July]  as  close  to  the  ground  as  possible. 

2.  Plow  about  three  inches  deep  and  sow   millet  or  Hungarian  grass,  seeding  heav- 
ily, harrow.     This  may  follow  the  preceding  at  once  or  after  some  two  weeks'  delay. 

3.  In  September  plow  under  the  crop,  or  save  it  for  hay,  as  desired.     At  all  events 
plow  and  seed  liberally  with  rye. 

4.  Plow  under   the  rye  in  May  and  seed  again  with  millet,  or  Hungarian  grass,  or 
plant  to  some  hoed  crop  [corn]  and  give  the  most  thorough  cultivation,   with  continued 
searching  for,  and  destruction  of,  every  remaining  thistle. 

5.  Continue  the  clean  cultivation  and  sharp  lookout  for  thistles  another  year. 

On  poor  land  labor  would  no  doubt  be  saved  by  manuring,  beginning 
preferably  in  the  early  spring  of  the  first  year,  or  better  still,  the  preceding 
autumn  or  winter.  The  cultivation  need  not  be  deep  at  any  time.  Cut- 
ting the  thistle  stems  three  inches  below  the  surface  is  as  effective  as  at 
any  greater  depth,  and  labor  is  saved.  But  the  utmost  endeavor  should 
be  made  to  include  in  each  process  every  living  plant.  From  repeatedly 
.  cutting  off  the  aerial  parts,  the  underground  portions  are  sure  to  die  of 
exhaustion,  and  mostly  within  the  limits  of  one  summer. 

I  have  now  to  report  the  results  of  an  experiment  in  exterminating 
this  pest  from  a  small  area  in  blue-grass  sod.  This  infested  spot,  about 
eight  square  rods  in  area,  was  on  the  campus  of  the  University,  in  an  out 
of  the  way  place  not  kept  in  order  with  the  lawn  mower.  The  soil  in  this 
particular  locality  is  not  very  fertile,  and  the  grass  makes  a  poor  growth 
compared  with  the  usual  luxuriance  on  these  grounds. 

The  process  adopted  in  this  case  consisted  simply  in  cutting  off  the 
plants  at  or  just  beneath  the  surface  of  the  ground  with  a  hoe.  Begin- 


1890.]  EXTERMINATION    OF    CANADA   THISTLES.  387 

ning  June  17,  1889,  this  was  carefully  done  once  each  week  until  Septem- 
ber 23d,  of  the  same  year.  No  record  was  at  first  kept  of  the  number 
of  plants  thus  cut,  but  from  August  5th  the  count  was  made  and  is  re- 
ported as  follows: 

August    5   ...  98  September    2.... 74 

"       12 107  "  9  ,  ..78 

"       19 80  "          16 62 

"26 84  "          26 26 

The  plants  were  conspicuously  smaller  towards  the  close  of  the  sea- 
son and  it  is  quite  possible  that  some  escaped  at  times  because  small  and 
hidden  in  the  grass. 

During  the  summer  of  1890  the  spot  was  similarly  examined  and 
treated  the  first  of  each  month  (once  a  month  only)  from  May  to  No- 
vember. The  number  of  thistles  found  and  cut  off  each  time  were  in 
order  as  follows:  i,  i,  3,  i,  o,  i,  o. 

This,  too,  practically  closes  the  experiment,  though  some  attention 
will  doubtless  be  demanded  next  year.  The  time  consumed  in  each  ex- 
amination was  from  one  to  two  hours, — necessarily  longer  on  account  of 
the  care  required  to  find  the  plants  among  the  grass.  Counting  the 
workman's  wages  at  $1.25  per  day,  the  total  cost  is  about  $4.00,  or  fifty 
cents  per  square  rod. 

From  the  foregoing  it  may  be  inferred  that  Canada  thistles  in  Illinois 
can  be  practically  exterminated  within  one  or  two  years.  The  former 
time  is  sufficient,  if  every  plant  is  frequently  enough  cut  off  at  or  just 
beneath  the  surface  of  the  ground.  On  arable  land  only  one  year's  crop 
need  be  lost,  though  practicing  the  greatest  possible  economy  of  labor. 
The  total  necessary  expense  of  eradication  is  trifling  compared  with  the 
rapidly  increasing  detrimental  results  of  allowing  the  noxious  plants  to 
exist  and  multiply  from  year  to  year.  In  our  part  of  the  country  to 
allow  the  thistles  to  grow  is  all  the  more  inexcusable  because  the  thistle 
produces  no  seed. 

T.  J.   BURRILL,  PH.  D.,  Horticulturist  and  Botanist. 


All  communications  intended  for  the  Station  should  be  addressed, 
not  to  any  person,  but  to  the 

AGRICULTURAL  EXPERIMENT  STATION,  CHAMPAIGN,  ILLINOIS. 
The  bulletins  of   the   Experiment  Station  will   be   sent   free  of  all 
charges  to  persons  engaged  in  farming  who  may  request  that  they  be  sent. 

SELIM  H.  PEABODY, 

President  Board  of  Direction. 


388  BULLETIN  NO.  12.  [November,  1890. 


BOARD  OF  TRUSTEES  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS. 
ALEXANDER  McLEAN,   Macomb,  President. 

JOSEPH  W.    FIFER,  Governor,  of  Illinois. 
GEORGE  S.  HASKELL,  Rockford,  President  State  Board  of  Agriculture. 

RICHARD  EDWARDS,  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction. 
S.  M.  MILLARD,  Highland  Park.  GEORGE  R.   SHAWHAN,  Urbana. 

CHARLES   BENNETT,   Mattoon.  W.  W.  CLEMENS,  Marion. 

OLIVER  A.  HARKER,  Carbondale.  FRANCIS  M.  McKAY,  Chicago, 

EMORY  COBB,  Kankakee.         •.  SAMUEL  A.   BULLARD,    Springfield. 


BOARD  OF  DIRECTION  OF  THE  EXPERIMENT  STATION. 

SELIM  H.  PEABODY,  LL.  D.,  Champaign,  Regent  of  the  University,  President. 

E.  E.  CHESTER,  Champaign,  of  State  Board  of  Agriculture. 

HENRY  M.  DUNLAP,  Savoy,  of  State  Horticultural  Society. 

H.   B.  CURLER,  DeKalb,  of  State  Dairymen's  Association. 

EMORY  COBB,  Kankakee,  Trustee  of  the  University. 

CHARLES  BENNETT,  Mattoon,  Trustee  of  the  University. 

GEORGE  S.  HASKELL,  Rockford,  Trustee  of  the  University. 

GEORGE  E.  MORROW,  A.  M.,  Champaign,  Professor  of  Agriculture. 

THOMAS  J.  BURRILL,  Ph.  D.,  Urbana,  Professor  of  Botany  and  Horticulture. 


THE  STATION  STAFF. 

GEORGE  E.   MORROW,  A.  M.,  Agriculturist. 

THOMAS  J.  BURRILL,  Ph.  D.,  Horticulturist  and  Botanist. 

STEPHEN  A.  FORBES,  Ph.  D.,  Consulting  Entomologist. 

DONALD  McINTOSH,  V.  S.,  Veterinarian. 

THOMAS  F.  HUNT,  B.  S.,  Assistant  Agriculturist. 

GEORGE  W.  McCLUER,   B.  S.,  Assistant  Horticulturist. 

EDWARD  H.  FARRINGTON,  M.  S.,  Assistant  Chemist. 

GEORGE  P.  CLINTON,  B.  S.,  Assistant  Botanist. 

WILLIAM  L.  PILLSBURY,  A.   M.,  Champaign,  Secretary. 


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